As this year’s Mother’s Day drew near, my thoughts turned to­ward the two ‘mothers’ who have had a major influence on the way I have ap­proached my battle with multiple myeloma: my mother, Eva, and the mother of my chil­dren, Karen.

After years of dealing with an array of perplexing symp­toms initially, and incorrectly, attributed to arthritis, my mom, while in her mid 40s, was diag­nosed with multiple sclerosis. We myeloma patients know all about tricky diagnoses.

In a …

Last Thursday, the third day of the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Paris, included numerous presentation sessions throughout the day.

The key session during the second part of Day 3, which concerned Revlimid and secondary cancers, is summarized in this article.  Highlights from the first part of Day 3 are summarized in a separate article (see related Beacon news).

Secondary Cancers

The most important session of the afternoon included talks from the …

Thursday was the third day of the Inter­na­tional Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Paris.  There were pre­sen­ta­tions from early morn­ing through the evening.

Some of the highlights from the first part of Day 3 of the conference are summarized in this article.  Highlights from the sec­ond part of the day are summarized in a separate article (see re­lated Beacon news).

Treating Older, Newly Diagnosed Myeloma Patients

The first session of the morn­ing was about treating newly diag­nosed mul­ti­ple myeloma patients …

In a session of the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) today, multiple myeloma experts presented the latest data about the efficacy of Revlimid maintenance therapy and discussed the drug’s potential link to second cancers.

Results from a study conducted by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) showed that Revlimid (lenalidomide) maintenance therapy following stem cell transplantation significantly extends survival of myeloma patients.  Two other studies investigating Revlimid maintenance, the IFM 2005-02 and MM-015 studies, have not yet shown a …

Yesterday was the second day of the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Paris.  The day was full of presentations from early morning through the evening, and the day concluded with a poster session.

Some of the highlights from Day 2 of the conference are summarized in this article.  For more detailed summaries of the day's sessions, see The Beacon’s extensive Day 2 coverage in the Beacon Forums.

Treating Younger, Newly Diagnosed Myeloma Patients

The first session of the morning was about …

There are so many people who have inspired me since my diagnosis in April 2007.  Some are public figures, and some work their magic in relative obscurity.   All have played an important part in my ongoing battle against multiple myeloma.

I’ll write this week about the public figures, and next week I'll write about the many other people who have inspired me.

Like many of you, Geraldine Ferraro tops the list.  She was the first celebrity survivor I ran across …

This year’s International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) started in Paris yesterday morning and will continue through Friday.

Yesterday’s schedule included three sessions of oral presentations and a poster session in the afternoon.  The focus of the oral sessions was to present the current understanding of the biochemistry and molecular mechanisms related to multiple myeloma.

These talks were more technical than the ones that will be made later in the week, and their material will not likely have an immediate impact on …