The Myeloma Beacon yesterday published a news article summarizing results of a study investigating testos­terone levels in people recently diag­nosed with multiple myeloma. The study, which was conducted at Ohio State University, found that almost three quarters of recently diag­nosed myeloma patients have testos­terone levels that are low for their gender and age.

To understand more about the study and its implications for people with multiple …

Results of a recent ob­ser­va­tion­al study in­di­cate that a sub­stan­tial majority of recently diag­nosed mul­ti­ple myeloma patients have low testos­terone levels.

Researchers at Ohio State Uni­ver­sity tested testos­terone levels in the blood of over 550 people with a plasma cell disorder. More than 90 per­cent of the study par­tic­i­pants had either mul­ti­ple myeloma, smol­der­ing mul­ti­ple myeloma, MGUS, or a plasmacytoma. Across all the study par­tic­i­pants, 74 per­cent had testos­terone levels that were low given their gender and age.

Testosterone levels …

When I wrote my first column for the Myeloma Beacon, I talked about the rules I invented to try to help me survive both the process of induction ther­apy and the stem cell trans­plant.

There were three rules.

First, do exactly what the doctor and all the nursing staff tell you to do.

Second, make as little fuss as possible.

Third, look forward and not back.

They were pretty simple rules, and I think keeping to them helped me …

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic con­firmed in a recent study that close relatives of people with multiple myeloma have a higher risk of devel­op­ing MGUS (mono­clonal gam­mop­athy of un­determined sig­nif­i­cance) than members of the general pop­u­la­tion.

In particular, the researchers found that "first-degree relatives" – parents, siblings, and children – of people with multiple myeloma were 2.4 times more likely to have MGUS than the general pop­u­la­tion.

This finding is in line with results of a pre­vi­ous Mayo Clinic study, …

The U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA) has approved the addi­tion of a once-weekly dosing regi­men to the official pre­scrib­ing in­­for­ma­tion for Kyprolis.

In addi­tion, the FDA approved revisions in the pre­scrib­ing in­­for­ma­tion related to two safety issues: the risk of heart-related side effects due to Kyprolis, and the risk of birth defects or miscarriage in women taking or exposed to Kyprolis during preg­nancy.

The once-weekly dosing of Kyprolis is approved for use in com­bi­na­tion with dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron) in multiple …

A while ago, while tidying up the medicine cabinet, I came across an un­used portion of Revlimid capsules and some dexa­meth­a­sone pills. The Revlimid, just three capsules, had expired. Of course my husband and I returned the unused medications to a hospital pharmacy for proper dis­posal.

It was startling to me to realize that these unused medications were still there. I mused over how Revlimid and dex had helped get me back into remission after a relapse four years ago. …

Results of a small Phase 2 trial conducted in Switzerland indicate that the HIV treat­ment nelfinavir, in com­bi­na­tion with Velcade and dexa­meth­a­sone, has promising activity in patients with ad­vanced, Velcade-resistant multiple myeloma.

All 34 patients in the Swiss trial had pre­vi­ously been treated with, and stopped responding to, Velcade. All study par­tic­i­pants also were pre­vi­ously treated with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and had a median of five over­all prior lines of treat­ment.

In this heavily pre­treated patient group, the com­bi­na­tion of nelfinavir, …