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Re: Tom Brokaw diagnosed with multiple myeloma
Thank you for posting this Karen. I missed the article, but enjoyed his update.
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Mark Pouley - Name: Mark
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: April 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 53
Re: Tom Brokaw diagnosed with multiple myeloma
Thanks for posting, Karen.
For those who were not tracking the news from Tom last year when it came out, Tom was heavily leaning against transplant based on being over 70, and the bad back problems that he had as a result of the multiple myeloma. He started with Revlimid and dexamethasone (Rd), and later added Velcade. He was initially treated at a lower continuous therapy dose, though they had not ruled out an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). After a year of treatment, he reached a complete response (CR). We don't have fine details, but he was pretty informative on the major issues of the story. He did not go public until more than a year after he learned of the diagnosis. He was averse to having a stem cell transplant, and when he reached CR, he decided it was not necessary.
Now he is at three years. He reports in his update that he is still in CR, and as such has an excellent prognosis, in particular to beat the expected life expectancy of that time of 5 years (that is not the latest number, it's a good deal better now on a looking forward basis). One of his doctors predicted that he would not die of multiple myeloma, that it would be something else that would get him. He is very connected to the leading doctors and researchers, and I would be interested to hear anything he might want to share on the latest research, for instance monoclonal antibodies and pipeline drugs.
A couple of days ago I read a story regarding another very well connected New Yorker. Dick Parsons was the former CEO of Time Warner, and held other big positions. He was heavily connected politically, and involved in New York City fundraising circles. He was diagnosed less than a year ago. He did not give a lot of details on his condition, but I believe he indicated that he made complete response on initial induction, and was preparing to have a stem cell transplant. Stories like these are of interest on several levels. There is of course the human element. On the treatment level, they do not seem to be getting anything drastically advanced, but when they give information on their treatment approach, it is an indicator as to what might be latest approaches of the leading centers.
For those who were not tracking the news from Tom last year when it came out, Tom was heavily leaning against transplant based on being over 70, and the bad back problems that he had as a result of the multiple myeloma. He started with Revlimid and dexamethasone (Rd), and later added Velcade. He was initially treated at a lower continuous therapy dose, though they had not ruled out an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). After a year of treatment, he reached a complete response (CR). We don't have fine details, but he was pretty informative on the major issues of the story. He did not go public until more than a year after he learned of the diagnosis. He was averse to having a stem cell transplant, and when he reached CR, he decided it was not necessary.
Now he is at three years. He reports in his update that he is still in CR, and as such has an excellent prognosis, in particular to beat the expected life expectancy of that time of 5 years (that is not the latest number, it's a good deal better now on a looking forward basis). One of his doctors predicted that he would not die of multiple myeloma, that it would be something else that would get him. He is very connected to the leading doctors and researchers, and I would be interested to hear anything he might want to share on the latest research, for instance monoclonal antibodies and pipeline drugs.
A couple of days ago I read a story regarding another very well connected New Yorker. Dick Parsons was the former CEO of Time Warner, and held other big positions. He was heavily connected politically, and involved in New York City fundraising circles. He was diagnosed less than a year ago. He did not give a lot of details on his condition, but I believe he indicated that he made complete response on initial induction, and was preparing to have a stem cell transplant. Stories like these are of interest on several levels. There is of course the human element. On the treatment level, they do not seem to be getting anything drastically advanced, but when they give information on their treatment approach, it is an indicator as to what might be latest approaches of the leading centers.
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JPC - Name: JPC