The Myeloma Beacon is pleased to announce the addition of regularly-scheduled patient and caregiver columns to its website.

Each column will be based on the writer’s personal experiences with multiple myeloma. The columns will provide Beacon readers with personal insights into living with multiple myeloma, perspectives on important myeloma-related topics, and thoughts on recent developments in the field.

The first column will be published tomorrow morning. It will be a weekly column written by myeloma patient, book author, and blogger …

The combination therapy of Velcade (bortezomib), melphalan (Alkeran), and prednisone, commonly referred to as VMP, extends overall survival in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients, compared to melphalan-prednisone (MP) therapy, even after prolonged follow-up and extensive subsequent therapy. Researchers also found that VMP did not increase resistance to subsequent therapy.

The Phase 3 clinical trial, known as VISTA, had shown that VMP therapy improved outcomes in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients compared to MP therapy. In particular, patients …

The combination regimen of Revlimid (lenalidomide), melphalan (Alkeran), prednisone, and thalidomide (Thalomid), abbreviated RMPT, is an active and safe therapy for multiple myeloma patients who have relapsed or who are resistant (refractory) to previous myeloma treatment. The findings were published recently in the journal Leukemia.

Although melphalan-prednisone (MP) combination has been a standard therapy in multiple myeloma for the last thirty years, the introduction of novel agents, such as Revlimid, thalidomide and Velcade, has significantly …

For multiple myeloma patients, treatment history and personal predisposition have been identified as two key factors that may predict if a patient treated with Velcade (bortezomib) or thalidomide (Thalomid) will develop tingling and pain from nerve damage in their limbs.

Thalidomide and Velcade are among the many myeloma treatments that are neurotoxic, which means that they cause damage to the body’s nervous system. As a result, multiple myeloma patients commonly experience tingling and pain from nerve damage in …

For many patients with multiple myeloma, common treatment regimens are not always effective against their cancer. In such situations, physicians may recommend turning to new combinations of treatments or newly developing treatments through participation in clinical trials.

Taking part in a clinical trial is a huge decision for both patients and their families, and it is one that should be made with careful consideration.

This guide, which will be published as a series of articles over the next couple of …

An expert panel of European hematologists has published guidelines for treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with thalidomide (Thalomid) in addition to melphalan (Alkeran) and prednisone. The guidelines are intended to help physicians and patients manage the side effects commonly associated with thalidomide treatment.

For the last four decades, the standard front-line therapy for newly diagnosed myeloma patients who are ineligible for stem cell transplantation has been a combination regimen of melphalan and prednisone (MP). However, the …

Pat Killingsworth, a former social studies teacher and real estate agent from Wisconsin, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma three years ago. “You try to find meaning when you’re 51 years old and somebody says you have cancer and are going to die in three to four years,” said Killingsworth.

“What are you going to do with three to four years? I decided I wanted to write two or three books to help cancer patients. I wanted to help them speed …