Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic show that overall survival for multiple myeloma patients treated at that cancer center has improved significantly between 2001 and 2010.

Patients diag­nosed between 2001 and 2005 had a median overall survival of 4.6 years, while those diag­nosed more recently – be­tween 2006 and 2010 – had an improved median overall survival of 6.1 years, or almost one-third higher.

In addition, the share of patients dying within a year of …

Findings from a German retrospective study indicate that whole-body magnetic resonance imaging can help identify patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance who are at increased risk of progressing to symptomatic multiple myeloma.

The whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results show that almost one-fourth of the MGUS patients in the study had clearly defined (focal) lesions in their bone marrow.  These lesions, or areas of ab­nor­mal cells, were solely within the patients' bone marrows.  They were not lesions in the …

Four years ago, my sister found out there was going to be a 5K race near her home in Illinois that was raising money to go toward multiple myeloma research. My whole family showed up to participate.

I’d walked a few 5Ks, and while I always made an effort to exercise regularly – usually walking a few miles on a treadmill or going to a strength-training class at the gym – I hadn’t run a single step since eighth-grade gym …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted at the Mayo Clinic indicate that autologous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion is an effective treat­ment option for multiple myeloma patients with advanced kid­ney disease.

The majority of patients (87 percent) responded to the treatment, with 40 percent achieving a complete response.  According to the researchers, this complete response rate is similar to those seen in other studies of stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion for myeloma patients with kid­ney disease.

However, the researchers found little evidence that …

Results from a recent study indicate that many myeloma patients are like­ly to suffer im­paired cog­ni­tive func­tion after their initial multiple mye­lo­ma therapy, and stem cell trans­planta­tion often causes further im­pairment.

Nearly half of the patients in the study had cog­ni­tive im­pair­ment, often referred to as ‘chemo brain,’ after receiving initial anti-myeloma therapy.  Half of the patients experienced further im­pair­ment of cog­ni­tive function at one month and again at three months following autologous (own) stem cell trans­planta­tion.

The study authors …

It’s been nearly four years since I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and I am only now experiencing my first significant period without chemo­ther­a­py.

Six weeks ago I came down with a bout of pneumonia, and my medical team decided that I should take a break from two medicines that I had been taking and that interfered with my white and red blood cell pro­duc­tion: Pomalyst (poma­lido­mide, Imnovid) and cyclophosphamide (Cy­tox­an).

Although I continue to take

Results of a small Phase 1 study indicate that the investigational drug mila­tu­zu­mab on its own has limited efficacy in patients with advanced relapsed and re­fractory multiple myeloma.

The best response the investigators observed in their study was stable disease, which 20 percent of the patients achieved. One patient con­tin­ued to have stable disease without progression for 17 months.

According to the investigators, these results are in line with those for sev­er­al other agents in the same class of drugs, …