Good morning, myeloma world.

After a busy week here at Myeloma Morning Headquarters, we're pleased to report that things are a bit more relaxed today. We're not sure if it's the weekend, or the cooler, overcast weather outside. Whatever the reason, we're enjoying the somewhat slower pace.

That pace is reflected in what we'll be covering in today's edition of Myeloma Morning. We'll be discussing just three new myeloma research articles.

The first article is a discussion of how to treat relapsed multiple myeloma, co-authored by Dr. Pieter Sonneveld, a leading myeloma …

A group of Spanish researchers published a summary last year of the patterns of re­lapse and progression they observed in multiple myeloma patients who underwent stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion as part of their upfront therapy.

The researchers observed re­lapse in over half of the patients included in the study.  Among these patients, the majority had only achieved a partial re­sponse after trans­plan­ta­tion.

They also found that how a patient re­lapsed had an impact on their prog­nosis after re­lapse.  Patients who re­lapsed based solely on changes in disease markers, such as their M-spike level, …

I have started 2014 in the throes of a relapse that has dogged my heels through­out the fall. When I see my oncologist this month, we will be dis­cussing treat­ment and, presumably, starting it soon thereafter.

Because the relapse is steadily increasing and my energy and overall health are steadily diminishing, we spent the holidays qui­et­ly. (Well, quietly after my hus­band finished five rehearsals and five performances in the space of three weeks.) When coworkers ask what I did for Christ­mas, I smile and say “nothing.” They think I am joking.

Similarly, …

Several years ago, well before I had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, we had a family friend who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer.  He was one of these relentlessly upbeat, positive people, and of course, he approached his disease in the same way.

Despite the prognosis and all appearances to the contrary, he refused to accept any outcome except that he was going to “beat this thing.”   Now I cannot speak to what he was secretly thinking or what he felt in his heart of hearts, but that was the …

I won’t bury the lead.  Last week I learned that I’d relapsed yet again.  The news was unexpected.  After all, my monoclonal protein (M-spike) had been stable at a low 0.2 g/dL for over a year.  Now it had jumped to 0.5 g/dL.

Most multiple myeloma patients are asymptomatic with M-spikes a lot higher than 0.5 g/dL.  But that isn’t a good number for me.  I developed bone lesions at that number following my stem cell transplant several years ago.

Why now?  Why had the doublet of subcutaneous Velcade (bortezomib) …

Living with multiple myeloma isn’t easy for a number of reasons.  Besides having cancer and dealing with the uncertainty around it, there are hours spent in waiting rooms, along with countless blood draws, tests, and chemotherapy side effects.

But for me, the most difficult part of our new normal is “the switch.”

One minute everything seems fine.  Then without warning, someone or something “flips the switch.”  Suddenly we’re in pain, battling an infection, hospitalized, or standing nose-to-nose with our own mortality.  And it happens all the time.

Let’s stick with the analogy …

Results from a recent retrospective study suggest that blood tests may be sufficient, and that urine tests and skeletal surveys may not be necessary, to detect most cases of relapse or disease progression after stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma.

However, the investigators point out that patients who show clinical signs of relapse/progression, such as such kidney problems or bone lesions, after stem cell transplantation may need additional types of testing, since they tend to have poorer prognoses.

The investigators note that their findings could be used to strengthen current guidelines for …