Results of a recent study suggest that high-risk multiple myeloma patients who have chromosomal abnormalities known as trisomies have better survival outcomes than high-risk patients without them.

“Our findings allow us to further trim down the proportion of patients with truly high-risk disease, thus allowing us to concentrate on those patients and improve their outcome,” said Dr. Shaji Kumar of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and lead author of the study.

Based on their results, the researchers recommended a …

My last column sparked some interesting discussion about the balance between treating multiple myeloma aggressively enough to be effective, while minimizing side effects and maximizing quality of life.

This balance has many facets to it.

Everything in medicine comes down to a risk-benefit question.  How much risk is there to a treatment, and what is the expected benefit?

Sounds simple enough.  The problem is that the answer is not always clear, especially for any one individual.

Multiple myeloma is a …

In the last two weeks, there have been several occasions where I’ve wished I could be in two places at once, or that I had a clone, or perhaps a private jet to transport me and my loved ones.  Life is full, but life also is good.

On February 4, my sister Deana was feted with a huge benefit in her honor.  Parents of children who play in the same hockey organization as Deana’s oldest two children, Andrew and Clare, …

The results of a recent retrospective analysis show that the sequence of treatment with Velcade and Revlimid may not have a significant effect on outcomes in multiple myeloma patients.

Only patients with kidney disease had significantly longer survival times if they received Velcade first.

The researchers from the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, who conducted the analysis pointed out that further prospective trials are needed to confirm their findings.

The results were presented during a poster session at the …

“Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.”
– Max Ehrmann, Desiderata.

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in July of 2009 at the age of 58. In hindsight, I should have known that a misfortune was developing because things started to change earlier that year.

The spring of 2009 was a late, cold one here in Calgary. Snow storms buffeted us almost weekly into May. Most outdoor exercise seemed to include snow shoveling and walking with snow …

The final results of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial indicate that perifosine in combi­nation with Velcade and dexamethasone may be effective in mul­ti­ple myeloma patients who previously relapsed from or were treatment-resistant to Velcade.

The trial results made a favorable impression on Dr. Philip McCarthy of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, who was not involved in the study.

“This combination had activity with an overall response rate (complete response, near complete response, partial response, and minor …

Just this week, an acquaintance of mine passed away due to complications from his long-running battle against multiple myeloma.  He was treated at the same out-of-state myeloma clinic at which I was treated. We occasionally ran into each other at the local cancer center where we both received maintenance chemotherapy.

He was fifteen years my senior and had a lot of medical problems aside from myeloma. Ultimately his kidneys were destroyed, he was on dialysis, his heart was diseased, and …