Still in post-marathon euphoria, I boarded the plane Sunday afternoon a week ago, and headed to Pittsburgh for my sister Deana’s Monday oncologist appointment.  All my energy was directed toward us getting the report we hoped for – clearance to move to transplant.

Deana picked me up and was wearing a Texas A&M baseball cap – an appropriate choice for Team BTHO MM.  I could see that she was bald underneath, and she later …

Nonsecretory myeloma is a topic shrouded in apprehension and mystery.

Patients with nonsecretory myeloma have a host of questions.  How do I track the progress of my disease? Should nonsecretory myeloma be treated differently than “standard” myeloma?  Is my prognosis different because I am nonsecretory?

Among myeloma patients with secretory disease, nonsecretory myeloma is something they often have heard of, but they are not always sure what it is, or whether it is really relevant to them.

Given the many …

One week ago, I learned that the autologous stem cell transplant I endured this summer at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, has most likely failed.

What do I mean by “failed?”  I entered the hospital with a monoclonal protein (M-spike) reading of 0.2.  There was also no trace of myeloma in my bone marrow.  Now--100 days later--my M-spike is an alarming 0.5.

My wife Pattie and my doctors were stunned.  What percentage of auto transplant patients with extremely low …

Earlier this year, an inter­na­tional group of myeloma experts pub­lished a review of ongoing re­search into new myeloma treat­ments.  This review not only described a wide range of po­ten­tial new myeloma treat­ments, but also in­cluded the experts' thoughts on where re­search into new treat­ments should go in the future.

Given the recent new drug appli­ca­tion for car­filz­o­mib and the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of He­ma­tol­ogy -- which undoubtedly will host dis­cus­sions of many po­ten­tial new myeloma treat­ments -- …

I think I am a believer in “The Force.”  No, let’s say that I do believe in it.

So that raises the question: What the heck is it?

The traditional thinking is that there’s an energy force that you can tap, consciously or perhaps not, that can help you fight the “bad things” that are affecting you personally.  Maybe even to completely resist them.

Some people might refer to this as “force of will,” which I think is also a …

Results of a recent study show that multiple myeloma patients who relapse after pomalidomide therapy may benefit from certain salvage therapies, including Velcade, Revlimid, and stem cell transplantation.

Furthermore, patients who received a stem cell transplant after relapse achieved the highest response rate among all patients who received salvage therapy. The results also suggest that Revlimid retains its activity in patients who relapse after pomalidomide therapy.

“[The study] gives a sense of what therapies still continue to have activity [after …

The results of a recent French analysis indicate that the cancer drug Treanda, in combination with prednisone or dexamethasone, may be effective in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients.

Based on their findings, the French researchers recommended that Treanda (bendamustine) be considered as a treatment option for patients with advanced multiple myeloma.

Treanda is an alkylating agent, which causes cancer cell death by damaging the cancer cells’ DNA.  The drug, which was originally developed in East Germany in the 1960s, …