In my last column, I wrote about the decision-making process that led me to move forward with a stem cell transplant. I am now just three weeks away from my stem cell transplant, and I am going to share my pre­par­a­to­ry experiences for this next stage in my battle with multiple myeloma.

But before doing that, I would like to share a personal reflection.

I have found that during all the stages of my battle with myeloma – from …

The pharma­ceu­tical com­pa­nies Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie an­nounced this morn­ing that the U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion has granted break­through ther­apy desig­na­tion to the inves­ti­ga­tional drug elo­tuz­u­mab.

Specifically, the Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA) granted break­through ther­a­py desig­na­tion to elotuzumab in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and dexamethasone (Decadron) for mul­ti­ple myeloma patients who have re­ceived one or more prior ther­a­pies.

The break­­through ther­apy desig­na­tion is a new desig­na­tion that was signed into law in 2012. It …

My niece Lizzie is finishing her sophomore year in college. A psychology major, she recently asked me to complete an Adult Development survey for one of her classes. In asking me to take it, she warned, “it has some pretty personal questions (about divorce, diseases, and your opinion on life changes as you age), so I can understand if you do not want to par­tic­i­pate in the interview.”

Of course I said I would take it. With a warning like …

The American Society of Clinical Oncology will hold its 50^th annual meet­ing May 30 through June 3 in Chicago.

Similar to pre­vi­ous years, more than 25,000 physicians and re­searchers from all over the world are ex­pec­ted to attend the five-day meeting to dis­cuss the current re­search in cancer treat­ment and care.

During the meeting, there will be pre­sen­ta­tions about all areas of cancer, in­clud­ing many focused specifically on multiple myeloma. The ASCO website cur­rently lists in­for­ma­tion about more than 60 myeloma-related …

In statistics, N refers to the number of subjects in the sample, or the sam­ple size. In a scientific study such as a clinical trial, N is the number of patients en­rolled in each arm of the study. Generally speaking, the larger the N, the stronger the validity of the trial.

From a statistical standpoint, an N of 1 would have no real significance. In fact, we were always taught in medical school that an N of 1 is an …

A solvent used extensively for both industrial as well as pharma­ceutical pur­poses may have substantial anti-myeloma activity.

This is the conclusion of a recent study by an international team of re­searchers, which carried out a wide range of pre-clinical investigations of the solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP).

The scientists looked at the effect of NMP on myeloma cells in laboratory cul­tures as well as in mice implanted with myeloma cells. Their testing indicates that safe doses of NMP may have anti-myeloma activity …

As Mother’s Day approaches this Sunday here in Canada and many other coun­tries around the world, I wanted to write a column of appreciation to mothers everywhere. It seems that many times motherhood is a lifelong avoca­tion, and that mothers always try to help their chil­dren, even when the children become adults.

Certainly in my case, my mother is still on the scene for her four children (and her grandchildren, too). Even at her age as an octogenarian, she is …