Statistics compiled by The Myeloma Beacon show there is sub­stan­tial variation across U.S. cancer centers in the num­ber of au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plants the centers per­form each year for people with mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The five busiest U.S. centers in terms of au­tol­o­gous trans­plants for mul­ti­ple myeloma carried out an average of 236 such trans­plants per center in 2017, the latest year for which data are pub­licly avail­able. That is a pace equal to almost one trans­plant per weekday at each of the five centers.

In contrast, across the other 134 other …

A new study by U.S. researchers provides useful insights into the out­comes newly diag­nosed multiple myeloma patients can ex­pec­t from a common sequence of initial treat­ments.

Drawing on data for more than 240 patients treated between 2010 and 2017, the authors of the new study in­ves­ti­gate treat­ment responses and survival out­comes for newly diag­nosed myeloma patients who under­went initial treat­ment with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib), and dexa­meth­a­sone, followed soon thereafter with an au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plant.

More than two thirds of the patients in the study also under­went either main­te­nance or …

A long time ago, we knew that we wanted my husband, Daniel, to be treated at a major cancer research hospital for his multiple myeloma.  We felt strongly enough about this that we sold our house, packed up our things, and relocated to Houston, Texas so that we could be close to such a center.

If we’ve ever needed a reason to believe that we made a good choice, learn­ing that Daniel’s myeloma was much more difficult to treat than we ex­pec­ted answered that question for us. We would need imaginative solu­tions if …

Results of a recent retrospective analysis indicate that stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion may be underutilized in multiple myeloma patients 80 years of age or older.

Researchers from the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found that only 0.5 per­cent (9 patients) of the 1,740 multiple myeloma patients who received an au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plant between January 2007 and June 2018 at their institution were 80 years or older at the time of their first trans­plant.

Yet the trans­plant out­comes seen in this small sample of patients were favorable, and the toxicity …

Results of a study conducted in Switzerland indicate that selective digestive decontamination, a controversial strategy designed to reduce the risk of in­fec­tions, may be effective in myeloma patients undergoing au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion.

The authors of the new study retro­spec­tive­ly reviewed data for over 200 myeloma patients who underwent an inpatient stem cell trans­plant at two hos­pi­tals in Zurich, Switzerland, be­tween 2009 and 2015. About half the patients underwent selective digestive decontamination (SDD) during their trans­plants, while the other half did not.

The patients who underwent SDD were sig­nif­i­cantly less likely …

I received an autologous stem cell trans­plant in July 2016. I chronicled the day-to-day progress of my trans­plant in the Beacon’s forums, so I won’t repeat that account here. Instead, I’ll share some of my general thoughts and feel­ings about the process.

My stem cell transplant was performed outpatient, but because we live over an hour away from the clinic, we relocated to apartments reserved for transplant patients. While I didn’t like being away from home, this arrange­ment was a …

This year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting began the morning of last Friday, and the meeting will run through Tues­day.

Multiple myeloma-related pre­sen­ta­tions are taking place every day of the meeting. Friday, how­ever, was the busiest day at the meeting in terms of oral pre­sen­ta­tions with new myeloma-related re­search. There were nine such pre­sen­ta­tions during a single afternoon session focused on multiple myeloma.

In addi­tion, there were myeloma-related education session pre­sen­ta­tions on Saturday, yesterday, and today. There also was a late-breaking ab­stract session yesterday (Sunday) with one pre­sen­ta­tion that …