Hi everyone,
I just wanted to get some thoughts on maintenance therapy strategies. My dad (age 74) was diagnosed with multiple myeloma back in June, 2015. His initial stats were:
M-spike (M-band): 6.2 g/dL (62 g/L)
IgG: 9610 mg/dL
Total protein: 12.2
His induction therapy has been Velcade, dex and Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide). TheCytoxan was dropped after a few months due to bad side effects. Currently at the end of the 6th cycle, his current stats are:
M-spike (M-band): undetectable
IgG : 633 mg/dL
Total protein: 6.0
He is with Kaiser in Northern California and is under a general hematology oncologist.
We recently went to UCSF for a second opinion with one of their myeloma specialists to make sure things were going in the right direction. The biggest difference of opinion seems to be the maintenance therapy strategy.
The Kaiser doctor suggested approximately 8 cycles, then stopping completely and monitoring his stats until they see a need to restart Velcade.
On the other hand, the UCSF doctor suggested 6 cycles, then maintenance with either Velcade or Revlimid indefinitely.
We asked the Kaiser doctor why there was a difference in maintenance strategy and he said these were 2 camps of thoughts, but he would be happy to let us choose either strategies.
Does anyone have any similar experiences with having to decide the route to take for maintenance? Searching through the forums, I haven't seen any mention of completely stopping medication.
I'd appreciate any feedback. Thank you!
-Chung
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