In March of 2006, I was 47 years old and thought I was on top of my game. I had a busy, thriving Ear, Nose, and Throat medical practice and a great wife and two kids, one in 8th grade and one in 5th. I was compulsively physically active, with a rigorous workout schedule. But something was not right.

Every Saturday morning, I worked out with a group of friends and began to notice that I was becoming short …

The Myeloma Beacon has learned that the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, the cooperative group running the CALGB / ECOG / BMT-CTN 100104 Revlimid maintenance trial, currently has no plans to halt Revlimid therapy in its trial.

The CALGB trial is one of three trials which released data last December that raised concerns about a potential link between long-term Revlimid (lenalidomide) use and second cases of cancer in multiple myeloma patients.

Among the 231 patients in the Revlimid …

Several investment bank reports published this week have heightened concern about a potential link between Revlimid and second cancers in multiple myeloma patients.  The reports have unnerved investors to such a degree that the stock of Celgene, Revlimid’s manufacturer, is down almost nine percent since the middle of last week.

Apprehension about Revlimid (lenalidomide) and secondary cancer first surfaced in December during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting.  At the meeting, results were presented from three …

The days of a cancer patient blindly following the doctor's orders and rarely getting a second opinion are over. For multiple myeloma, there aren't just one or two standard treatment options.

Instead, you and your doctor will often face a choice of three or more treatment plans. Some physicians prefer certain approaches, so it’s important when you are first diagnosed to get an opinion from several different treatment centers and to select the one whose approach you are comfortable with. …

A recent European study found that the percentage of plasma cells detected in a bone marrow sample is a strong predictor of multiple myeloma progression following stem cell transplantation.

Although the current definition for complete remission requires less than 5 percent of plasma cells in a bone marrow sample, the study’s authors found that patients with more than 1.5 percent bone marrow plasma cells were more likely to progress. Additionally, there was a trend toward shorter survival in these patients. …

Her eyes twinkled at me through the slit below her bright green stocking cap and above the powder blue mask that covered her nose and mouth. She was tiny compared to the waiting room chair. Her feet didn’t quite reach the floor, and I noticed that her tennis shoes had a fuzzy green ball on the laces that matched her stocking cap in both color and whimsy.

I had arrived at the clinic without an appointment and checked in at …

New information was released last week regarding long-term treatment with Revlimid and a multiple myeloma patient’s risk of developing a second cancer.

The information is based on analyses prompted by results from three clinical trials presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting last month.  In each of the three trials, more multiple myeloma patients receiving Revlimid maintenance therapy reported developing a secondary cancer than patients who did not receive maintenance therapy.

Celgene, the manufacturer of Revlimid (lenalidomide), …