I recently noticed that one of the most active discussions in the Myeloma Beacon forums is one about experiences with bone marrow biopsies. I haven’t read of anyone who really was neutral to having that procedure done.

Whether it’s done under local anesthetics or with the help of a sedative, it is somewhat dreaded because it helps diagnose, confirm and stage multiple myeloma. However, most of us patients consent to the procedure because of the information it can yield.

When I had an initial appointment with my oncologist to review the results …

Even though doctors sometimes skip bone marrow exams during clinical trials, a Mayo Clinic study discovered that they are crucial after experimental multiple myeloma treatments. Other standard tests for multiple myeloma patients’ responses to treatments can give false positives if used alone. The study was published in the journal Blood in late July.

Whether the study’s findings will apply to patients not in clinical trials is up for debate. However, the findings are very important to doctors doing clinical trials with patients, wrote Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar, lead researcher of the study, …