[Beacon Staff]

Weekly Poll - 1st Remission Without Transplant

by Beacon Staff on Wed Jan 29, 2014 12:41 pm

This week’s poll and last week's poll are about how long first remission lasts for myeloma patients. This week's poll is open to myeloma patients who did not undergo stem cell transplantation as part of their initial therapy (patients who delayed transplantation until after relapse or who decided not to undergo stem cell transplantation). The poll asks how long these patients' first remission lasted. Last week's poll was open to myeloma patients who underwent stem cell transplantation as part of their initial therapy and asked how long their first remission lasted.

A few clarifications:

First, this poll is open to anyone diagnosed with multiple myeloma who did not undergo stem cell transplantation as part of their initial therapy, delayed transplantation until after relapse, or decided not to undergo stem cell transplantation. If you are a caregiver or family member of a myeloma patient who meets these criteria, feel free to answer on their behalf.

Second, patients who underwent stem cell transplantation as part of their initial therapy (you may have received chemotherapy, treatment with novel agents, and/or radiation to reduce the number of myeloma cells prior to stem cell transplantation but you did not relapse or progress prior to transplantation) should not participate in this week's poll.

Third, the length of your first remission should be calculated from the time you first achieved a response (or stable disease if that's the best you achieved) until the time you first relapsed (such as a definitive rise in your M-spike).

As always, feel free to post a comment, thoughts, or feedback in the space below. For example, what regimen were you initially treated with? Did you receive consolidation or maintenance therapy? If you are still in remission after your initial treatment, how long have you been in remission? If you relapsed, did you decide to undergo stem cell transplantation then? If you have had multiple remissions and relapses, how long have your later remissions lasted?

[Dorothy]

Re: Weekly Poll - 1st Remission Without Transplant

by Dorothy on Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:20 am

I've been in continuous remission since June 2006 having been treated with CVAD chemotherapy followed by thalidomide when diagnosed in 2005. I have had no further treatment since June 2006 apart from bone strengthening treatments.

[Beacon Staff]

Re: Weekly Poll - 1st Remission Without Transplant

by Beacon Staff on Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:28 am

Thanks, Dorothy for sharing your treatment history. That is great news that you have been in remission for so long and have been able to be treatment-free (other than bone-strengthening drugs) during that time. We wish you many more years of remission!