One of the things that having cancer has exposed me to is random acts of kindness.

I first encountered this concept from something the late Princess Diana once said:

"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."

Not everything about having cancer is bad.  Disgraced bicyclist Lance Armstrong, for example, perceived his cancer as “a gift.”

That’s because confronting a diagnosis that …

Results from a recent retrospective study demonstrate that the risk of infection is significantly higher in multiple myeloma patients compared to the general population.

Furthermore, the study investigators found that the rate of infection in myeloma patients has increased in recent years.

“Our study raises the question whether modern myeloma therapy increases the risk of infections,” said Dr. Cecilie Blimark from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, who presented the study findings at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) …

Except for three months following my stem cell transplant, I have continuously been on some type of chemotherapy for my multiple myeloma for over five years.  The relentless onslaught has caused a wide variety of side effects, some serious and others inconvenient.

I have been on Revlimid (lenalidomide) since soon after my diagnosis. It depresses my white blood cell counts to the point that I have experienced chronic neutropenia a number of times.  It has also aggravated a form …

Daratumumab con­tinues to show promise for re­lapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients. Results from a Phase 1/2 study indicate that dara­tu­mu­mab may be effective and safe in heavily pre­treated patients.

In particular, dara­tu­mu­mab's activity as an anti-myeloma agent seems at least as good as that of the newest myeloma ther­a­pies.

“The response to dara­tu­mu­mab was accompanied by the clearance of myeloma cells,” said Dr. Torben Plesner from the Vejle Hospital in Denmark, who presented the findings from the dara­tu­mu­mab trial …

When I stopped working due to my multiple myeloma, my biggest concern was how I was going to maintain my health insurance.

Through a deal I negotiated with my partners, I was able to stay on our group health plan for a while.  When my former group merged with a larger group, this option was no longer available.  Since the group plan was being dissolved, COBRA insurance was also not available.

After much anxiety and research, I discovered that since …

Celgene has proposed ‘Pomalyst’ as the trademarked brand name for pomalidomide.

The name was made public this morning in a press release by Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG), the company developing pomalidomide.  The press release contains information about the company's expected financial results for 2012 and forecasts for 2013 and later years.

In the press release, Celgene refers to pomalidomide primarily by its new proposed brand name, Pomalyst.  This is the first time the company has used the proposed brand …

Results from an ongoing Phase 1 study demonstrate that lorvotuzumab mertansine in combination with Revlimid and dexamethasone is effective as a therapy for relapsed and refractory myeloma patients.

The updated trial results were presented by Dr. Jesus Berdeja from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Atlanta last month.

Ten patients are currently continuing with the clinical trial. According to Dr. Berdeja, these interim results support the continued evaluation of …