Dr. Kenneth Anderson is a multiple myeloma thought leader, physician and researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he is Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center.  He also is the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Dr. Anderson's research has played a key role in the development of several new multiple myeloma drugs and, more broadly, the significant improvement in treatment outcomes for myeloma patients that has occurred over the past 10 to 15 years.

In an interview with The Myeloma Beacon, Dr. Anderson spoke about his approach to treating …

A 30 mg monthly dose of the bisphosphonate Aredia prevents bone disease as effectively as a 90 mg dose in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients, according to a recent Nordic study. The study also found that the lower dose resulted in fewer side effects than the higher dose.

Based on their findings, the researchers recommended 30 mg Aredia be administered to multiple myeloma patients for the prevention of bone disease.

“I believe that our study can lead to a reduction in the cost of treatment and maybe more importantly a reduction in the …

The International Myeloma Working Group, comprised of many of the world’s top myeloma experts, recently published a report that evaluated the use of key proteins to assess the severity of multiple myeloma-related bone disease. The group determined that some of these proteins are useful in monitoring bone metabolism and skeletal complications during myeloma treatments.

The majority of multiple myeloma patients suffer from bone disease. Approximately 20 percent of patients experience a fracture at the time of their myeloma diagnosis, and 60 percent of patients experience a fracture as their myeloma progresses. These …

On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that long-term use of bisphosphonates for osteoporosis places patients at a possible risk for atypical thigh bone fractures. The FDA plans to add this warning to its Medication Guide and to the prescribing information for bisphosphonates approved for the treatment of osteoporosis. The warning will not apply to bisphosphonates typically used in the treatment of multiple myeloma or other cancers.

According to Dr. Craig Hofmeister of the Ohio State University Medical Center, myeloma patients taking bisphosphonates for a long time do not need to be concerned about …

The majority of multiple myeloma patients suffer from bone disease, and drugs called bisphosphonates are commonly used to help improve bone health in myeloma patients. Dr. David Roodman of the University of Pittsburgh discussed the current use of bisphosphonates in multiple myeloma during an education session on June 7 at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Treatment of myeloma bone disease is important, since 20 percent of multiple myeloma patients experience a fracture at the time of their myeloma diagnosis, and 60 percent of multiple myeloma patients experience a …

Yesterday was the fourth day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago. Although today is the final day of the meeting, the multiple myeloma-related sessions concluded yesterday.

The day began with a meeting-wide session to review the highlights of the previous day across all cancer types. There were six presentations, and despite all of the types of cancers being discussed at the meeting, an entire presentation was devoted to myeloma.

Dr. Jean-Luc Harousseau from the Rene Gauducheau Cancer Center in France presented the myeloma highlights. He described …

People with multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions may be at risk for bone fractures and osteoporosis, found a review published in the journal Joint Bone Spine in March.

For those with multiple myeloma, this increased risk of osteoporosis means higher risk of fractures even in places in the bone that do not have cancerous cells. For those with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a blood disorder characterized by a high level of monoclonal protein, or those with smoldering multiple myeloma, their disease-caused osteoporosis may be an early sign of progression to …