Results of a recent British study in­di­cate that the rel­a­tive­ importance of factors affecting sur­vival in multiple myeloma patients changes with patient age.

In particular, the re­searchers found that the older a patient is at diag­nosis, the more their sur­vival is affected by their general health and by how ad­vanced their multiple myeloma is at diag­nosis.

In contrast, the impact of high-risk chromosomal ab­nor­mal­i­ties on sur­vival de­creases with patient age.

The study findings are based on an analysis of data …

Life is risky!

I know that is true and I also know that being diag­nosed with multiple myeloma has altered my concept of risk.

Right from the start of my life with multiple myeloma, I became aware of taking new risks.

There was the risks asso­ci­ated with having a stem cell trans­plant. The doctors and nurses highlighted them to me. It seemed a risk worth taking, but it did make me think much more deeply about the de­ci­sions we make …

Looking down at the green grass is a good sign. So is the fact that I am writing this article. Both of these little “things.” and so many more, add up to my current status of living with cancer, as opposed to not living.

I am a male, 63 years old, who was diag­nosed with multiple myeloma about 4.5 years ago. Prior to my diag­nosis, I was having tre­men­dous back aches and finally went to an orthopedist who sug­gested an …

As I mentioned in my recent columns, my M-spike and serum free light chain levels have been rising over the past few months, in­di­cating I might have to start treat­ment in the near future. The reprieve from med­i­ca­tions this year had been really nice, but in the world of myeloma, it seems to be wishful thinking that my dis­ease would suddenly halt and disappear without help from the drugs avail­able to us now.

So, earlier this month, upon consultation …

A team of Dutch researchers has published results of a small study in­ves­ti­gat­ing the impact of Darzalex treat­ment on immuno­glob­u­lin levels in multiple myeloma patients.

In their study, the researchers focus in particular on how the levels of a patient’s un­in­volve­d immuno­glob­u­lins are affected by treat­ment with Darzalex.

Uninvolved immuno­glob­u­lins in myeloma patients are immuno­glob­u­lins that have a type dif­fer­en­t from any mono­clonal immuno­glob­u­lin made by a patient’s myeloma cells.

Someone with IgG multiple myeloma, for example, has myeloma plasma …

I try to ap­proach life with a Rosie Riveter attitude of “We can do this!” I try to be en­cour­ag­ing, especially given the chal­lenges that go along with cancer treat­ment. However, since my husband Daniel began induction treat­ment last March, it’s been one uphill battle after another.

Recently, I was fighting insurance and I asked myself, “What could possibly hap­pen next?”  And the universe answered with a re­sound­ing: shingles!

Like many patients, Daniel had chicken pox as a child. People …

As researchers search for new treat­ments for multiple myeloma, they are particularly interested in uncovering ther­a­pies that address the dis­ease in new ways. Survival and the chance for a cure are likely to be im­proved the most by new treat­ments that are noticeably dif­fer­en­t from other myeloma ther­a­pies.

One of the reasons Darzalex (dara­tu­mu­mab), for example, has been such an im­por­tant new treat­ment for multiple myeloma is because it rep­re­sents a new way of treating the dis­ease. Darzalex was not …