I was just recently diagnosed, I am to start treatment with Velcade this week. Is Velcade considered to be chemo?
I am new at this and am still in the process of learning everything. Thanks!
Forums
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twoswyfts - Name: Judie
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Oct 4, 2016
- Age at diagnosis: 61
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
Any drug that is used to treat your myeloma is chemotherapy. That being said, most of them are not what people traditionally think of as chemo - it is not a drug that makes your hair fall out and cause you to have nausea and vomiting.
You have come to a wonderful website for information. Ask away! I suggest you first go to the forum sub-topic of Treatments and Side Effects. The very first topic is "Useful Links To Existing Forum Discussions". You will find lots of useful information on Velcade there.
You have come to a wonderful website for information. Ask away! I suggest you first go to the forum sub-topic of Treatments and Side Effects. The very first topic is "Useful Links To Existing Forum Discussions". You will find lots of useful information on Velcade there.
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rumnting - Who do you know with myeloma?: husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 4/9/11
- Age at diagnosis: 54
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
rumnting,
For the most part I agree with you. However there are exceptions. Dexamethasone, which is commonly used in the treatment of myeloma, is a steroid, and Zometa, which is used for those of us with lesions, is a bisphosphonate, which inhibits the release of calcium from bones.
For the most part I agree with you. However there are exceptions. Dexamethasone, which is commonly used in the treatment of myeloma, is a steroid, and Zometa, which is used for those of us with lesions, is a bisphosphonate, which inhibits the release of calcium from bones.
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kshornb - Name: kshornber
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 52
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
Velcade was my first chemo and I had very bad results. It got to my nervous system and caused neuropathy in my chest, hands, feet, and legs. I stopped treatment and went to a pain management doctor, as the neuropathy pain was twice as bad as the pain in bones. The pain doctor also helped my pain from cancer.
Good luck and God Bless,
Tom74
Good luck and God Bless,
Tom74
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Tom74 - Name: Tom Meredith
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 9/5/15
- Age at diagnosis: 73
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
Most people use the word "chemo" to describe any treatment they get for their myeloma, but as kshornb suggests, that's not really a good use of the word.
There are exceptions, but you'll typically see myeloma specialists and other oncologists reserve the word "chemo" for old-style, broad-based cancer agents such as melphalan. You certainly won't see dexamethasone described as a chemotherapy agent, and you usually won't hear drugs such as Revlimid and Velcade as "chemo" because they are more specifically targeted at multiple myeloma.
Dr. Libby alludes to this perspective in this forum posting.
Finally, bone drugs such as Zometa and Aredia really should not be called chemo. They are not even intended to treat multiple myeloma, but rather mitigate one of the effects of the disease (bone loss and bone lesions).
Yes, there is evidence that Zometa, and perhaps Aredia, may improve survival among myeloma patients. But many believe this is because of an indirect effect the drugs may have on the disease, rather than a direct anti-myeloma effect.
So going back to the original question ... Yes, Velcade is intended to treat your multiple myeloma. And yes, some people would call it chemotherapy. But strictly speaking it's probably better to just call it a "myeloma treatment" or "myeloma therapy".
There are exceptions, but you'll typically see myeloma specialists and other oncologists reserve the word "chemo" for old-style, broad-based cancer agents such as melphalan. You certainly won't see dexamethasone described as a chemotherapy agent, and you usually won't hear drugs such as Revlimid and Velcade as "chemo" because they are more specifically targeted at multiple myeloma.
Dr. Libby alludes to this perspective in this forum posting.
Finally, bone drugs such as Zometa and Aredia really should not be called chemo. They are not even intended to treat multiple myeloma, but rather mitigate one of the effects of the disease (bone loss and bone lesions).
Yes, there is evidence that Zometa, and perhaps Aredia, may improve survival among myeloma patients. But many believe this is because of an indirect effect the drugs may have on the disease, rather than a direct anti-myeloma effect.
So going back to the original question ... Yes, Velcade is intended to treat your multiple myeloma. And yes, some people would call it chemotherapy. But strictly speaking it's probably better to just call it a "myeloma treatment" or "myeloma therapy".
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JimNY
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
One other thing, Judie.
What Tom wrote is true; Velcade can cause peripheral neuropathy when it is given to treat multiple myeloma. It is one of the risks of being treated with the drug, However, if you regularly update your doctor about any side effects you are experiencing during your treatment, the two of you should be able to minimize the chance that you develop serious neuropathy.
That isn't to say that it's always possible to avoid serious neuropathy caused by Velcade. Unfortunately, it happens. But Velcade is also a powerful myeloma treatment. It's one of three new myeloma therapies introduced during the early 2000s that led to a dramatic increase in the survival of myeloma patients across the globe. In my eyes, it would be a unfortunate if someone chose not to be treated with Velcade simply because it can cause neuropathy in some patients.
Good luck!
What Tom wrote is true; Velcade can cause peripheral neuropathy when it is given to treat multiple myeloma. It is one of the risks of being treated with the drug, However, if you regularly update your doctor about any side effects you are experiencing during your treatment, the two of you should be able to minimize the chance that you develop serious neuropathy.
That isn't to say that it's always possible to avoid serious neuropathy caused by Velcade. Unfortunately, it happens. But Velcade is also a powerful myeloma treatment. It's one of three new myeloma therapies introduced during the early 2000s that led to a dramatic increase in the survival of myeloma patients across the globe. In my eyes, it would be a unfortunate if someone chose not to be treated with Velcade simply because it can cause neuropathy in some patients.
Good luck!
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JimNY
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
Hi JimNY.
You wrote:
Velcade, Revlimid - what is the 3rd? Melphalan?
You wrote:
It's one of three new myeloma therapies introduced during the early 2000s that led to a dramatic increase in the survival of myeloma patients across the globe.
Velcade, Revlimid - what is the 3rd? Melphalan?
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antelope1225 - Name: Cathy1225
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: May 25 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 55
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
I suspect Jim meant thalidomide, Velcade, and Revlimid. Those were the first three "novel" myeloma therapies.
Melphalan was first tested as a myeloma therapy back in the late 1950s.
Melphalan was first tested as a myeloma therapy back in the late 1950s.
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
Here is a definition out of Wikipedia
"By common usage, the term chemotherapy has come to connote the use of rather non-specific intracellular poisons, especially related to inhibiting the process of cell division known as mitosis, and generally excludes agents that more selectively block extracellular growth signals (i.e. blockers of signal transduction). For purely historical reasons,[which?] the blockade of growth promoting signals coming from classic endocrine hormones (primarily estrogens for breast cancer and androgens for prostate cancer) is known as hormonal therapy, while the blockade of other growth promoting influences (especially those associated with receptor tyrosine kinases) is known as targeted therapy."
The novel agent Velcade is a proteasome inhibitor that is more specific and thus would, under the definition above, be classified a form of targeted therapy. The older drugs melphalan, cytoxan and doxorubicin are broad-based, non-specific drugs and thus would fall under the common chemotherapy label.
I agree that today, most myeloma patients commonly include all the novel agents as well as dex into a broad definition of chemotherapy when discussing their treatment.
"By common usage, the term chemotherapy has come to connote the use of rather non-specific intracellular poisons, especially related to inhibiting the process of cell division known as mitosis, and generally excludes agents that more selectively block extracellular growth signals (i.e. blockers of signal transduction). For purely historical reasons,[which?] the blockade of growth promoting signals coming from classic endocrine hormones (primarily estrogens for breast cancer and androgens for prostate cancer) is known as hormonal therapy, while the blockade of other growth promoting influences (especially those associated with receptor tyrosine kinases) is known as targeted therapy."
The novel agent Velcade is a proteasome inhibitor that is more specific and thus would, under the definition above, be classified a form of targeted therapy. The older drugs melphalan, cytoxan and doxorubicin are broad-based, non-specific drugs and thus would fall under the common chemotherapy label.
I agree that today, most myeloma patients commonly include all the novel agents as well as dex into a broad definition of chemotherapy when discussing their treatment.
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Ron Harvot - Name: Ron Harvot
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Is Velcade chemotherapy?
I always assumed any chemical treatment for cancer was considered to be chemotherapy. I also thought I was diagnosed with stage 1 cancer. It appears I was wrong on both counts! I'd like to say 'Happy days!'...
Semantics seem to be at play with myeloma.
“We must think things not words, or at least we must constantly translate our words into the facts for which they stand, if we are to keep to the real and the true.”
― Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Just saying
Semantics seem to be at play with myeloma.
“We must think things not words, or at least we must constantly translate our words into the facts for which they stand, if we are to keep to the real and the true.”
― Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Just saying
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Colm - Name: Colm
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: smoldering April 2016
- Age at diagnosis: 56
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