A promising experimental method for treating ad­vanced leukemia may point the way to important new treat­ment options for multiple myeloma.

“It is very exciting,” said Dr. Leif Bergsagel, a myeloma specialist from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona who was not involved in the study investigating the leukemia treat­ment. “I think this ap­proach could and should be extended to multiple myeloma.”  He pointed out, however, that “It will be several years before myeloma patients will be treated this way.”

In two recently published research articles, scientists …

I returned home from my stem cell transplant late last month.  At first, my progress was uneven and a bit frustrating.  I would feel a bit better one day, only to backslide and lose ground the next.

But my third week home has been better.  My energy levels are rising, my unsettled stomach is improving, and I am able to perform more than one physical task without rest.

My wife has been taking an extra day off work each week …

Results of a large analysis conducted in Sweden show that multiple myeloma patients are more likely than the general population to develop certain cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Furthermore, the researchers found that patients with the myeloma precursor disease monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) also have a greater risk of developing these cancers than the general population.

Like myeloma patients, MGUS patients have abnormal proteins in the blood as a result of defective …

During the course of my treatments for multiple myeloma over the last few years, I have run the gambit of FDA-approved drugs.

After my initial induction therapy and stem cell transplant and a period of watchful waiting, I started on Revlimid (lenalidomide) and then added dexamethasone (Decadron).

After slowly relapsing on Revlimid/dexamethasone, I was switched to Velcade (bortezomib).   After five months of Velcade, the response was very good, but I had to stop due to the side effects.  …

The results of a recent Phase 2 trial show that the addition of cyclophosphamide to Revlimid and low-dose dexamethasone may result in better responses for previously untreated myeloma patients.

“This [study] provides the efficacy of another regimen for use in patients with myeloma,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Shaji Kumar of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “It is a fairly safe combination and is quite efficacious,” he stated in an e-mail to The Myeloma Beacon.

According to the …

One of the most frequent questions that I get asked by multiple myeloma patients is: What is the current role of stem cell transplantation in myeloma therapy?

As the conversation continues, several pertinent questions arise: Should I get a transplant? Am I too old for a transplant? Is it better to do one now, or can I wait? One or two? Two back to back, or one now and one later? And so on…

Myeloma is the number one use …

It has been just over one month since doctors took my stem cells off ice and infused three million of them back into my body.

Considering all I had heard and read about how tough the stem cell transplant process is, I think I am doing remarkably well.

Yes, I still tire easily, and I’m battling a number of annoying side effects.  But I am able to write, get out, walk, and shop.  And I’m driving again—all in a short …