We hope you had a pleasant Wednesday, myeloma world.

Our Wednesday was going full steam ahead until modern tech­nology at Myeloma Morning Headquarters decided to take a vaca­tion. And this had to hap­pen, of course, on a day when we have some particularly in­ter­est­ing devel­op­ments to discuss.

What “developments” might those be, you ask?

Well, those “developments” would be the titles of all pre­sen­ta­tions to be given at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). …

The infusion regimen I follow for Kyprolis (carfilzomib) is two con­secu­tive days a week, three con­secu­tive weeks in a round, rest one week, repeat. Each session lasts two hours, more or less, so in any com­plete round of treatment I spend 12 or more hours of en­forced down­time, sitting in a chair while chemicals drip into my body.

What to do, what to do?

I don’t carry a tablet. I don’t have a smart phone, just a way …

A happy Tuesday to you, myeloma world.

We have some in­ter­est­ing re­search to share with you.

First, we have re­­sults of a Phase 2 study investi­gating Empliciti (elotuzu­mab) in com­bi­na­tion with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) and dexa­metha­sone (Decadron) in re­lapsed and re­frac­tory myeloma patients. The re­­sults show that Empliciti plus Velcade and dexa­metha­sone im­proves pro­gres­sion-free sur­vival com­pared to Velcade and dexa­metha­sone alone, without adding any sig­nif­i­cant side effects.

We also report on a study out of Italy that explores using

Good day, myeloma world.

Monday's tend to be quiet here at Myeloma Morning Headquarters – at least when it comes to new research that needs to be reviewed and summarized. Today is no exception. There was no new myeloma-related research when we checked this morning, and just one or two news items.

We do have a few things, however, that we'd like to review with you.

First, we mentioned last week that this month's issue of the Journal of …

A national news magazine recently had a cover story about potential new cancer immunotherapies. The article also includes a discussion about clinical trials. While I found the article informative, I thought that it focused too much on the cost and exclusiveness of clinical trials and the fact that such trials are not available to most cancer patients.

What gave me the most food for thought from this article was the opening sen­tence: "Dates are important to a person who knows …

Hello again, myeloma world.

As we continue catching up after the recent onslaught of new myeloma-related research, we're pleased to report that it's a sunny spring day outside. More importantly, our top story today reflects Mother Nature's pleasant disposition.

In particular, there is updated data about multiple myeloma survival in the United States, and it's good news.

It's just an annual update – a single new value for survival five-years from the time of diagnosis. And it's for patients diagnosed …

As I mentioned in one of my previous columns, my husband and I like to travel, and we have continued to do so, at different levels, despite my multiple myeloma diagnosis.

As you can imagine, travel was easier when I was in remission. However, we nevertheless traveled when I relapsed and started treatment with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone (Decadron) in the fall of 2014. I just took extra precautions when we went to Hawaii a couple of months later.

I …