A team of U.S. researchers has published the results of an in­ves­ti­ga­tion into eyelid-related com­pli­ca­tions in multiple myeloma patients receiving treat­ment with Velcade or Kyprolis. Drawing on the results of their in­ves­ti­ga­tion, the authors of the new study also propose guidelines for the prevention and man­agement of such com­pli­ca­tions.

The authors report on a case series of 16 patients who devel­oped either blepharitis or chalazia after starting treat­ment with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) or Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib).

Blepharitis is the medical term for chronic inflammation of the eyelid, and a chalazion is a cyst in …

The results of a small, single-arm study conducted at the Ohio State University indicate that adminis­tering Darzalex using a time-saving 90-minute in­fusion protocol can be safe.

No patients in the study ex­peri­enced severe in­fusion-related reac­tions, and there was only one mild reac­tion in a patient who had no further reac­tions during sub­se­quent in­fusions at the 90-minute rate.

The faster Darzalex (dara­tu­mu­mab) in­fusion rate tested in the study is two hours shorter than the standard 3.5 hour rate. Patients in the study were receiving their third, or sub­se­quent, Darzalex in­fusions.

Infusion-related …

Remember Love Canal?

If you came of age in the 1970s or earlier in the United States, you surely re­mem­ber Love Canal.

Love Canal was a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, built atop a chem­i­cal waste dump that had been closed and covered with dirt in the early 1950s. An elementary school was built first, followed soon by the houses.

Even though residents soon started noticing odd smells and oily sub­stances leaching up into the play­ground, it wasn’t until 1976 that the dump, after unusually heavy rains and winter weather, …

As I wrestle with the early treatment phase of this disease, it is my hope that by shar­ing my experiences I can provide some valuable insights to readers who are newly diagnosed and beginning treatment.

But before sharing in this column what I have been through as I finish the fifth cycle of treatment, I have two confessions to make.

First, treatment is tough, really tough -- far tougher than I ever imagined it would be. My approach to treatment was naively ignorant despite warn­ings from my doctor and all that I …

Last month I promised to update you following the discovery that I had developed several large plasmacytomas (lesions or tumors) under my ribs.  I had just started radiation therapy to relieve the sharp pain I felt there.

I’m happy to report that most of the pain is now gone.

Reflecting back, it’s been a tough month.

Leading up to the discovery of the plasmacytomas, I had been feeling much better than in the past, thanks in part to ongoing testosterone ther­a­py and a maintenance regimen of once-a-week Velcade (bor­tez­omib) and …

"You gotta fight – for your right – to party!"  Remember that popular 1986 song by the Beastie Boys?  I was never a "rocker," but I couldn't get the song out of my head yesterday morning while I was doing some yard work.

A fellow multiple myeloma patient recently asked me, “How do other patients you know deal with their fatigue?  I’m tired all of the time…”  A great question with no simple answer.

So many things can cause fatigue in a multiple myeloma patient.  Stem cell transplant patients can feel the …

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 dexamethasone (Decadron) twice a week, the break from Pomalyst and cyclophosphamide should allow …