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Opinion: Different Experiences With Myeloma – In the latest article published in the opinion section of The Myeloma Beacon, Vietnam Veteran David Willson, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma five years ago, writes about how multiple myeloma has affected his life. He feels that his experiences have been very dif­fer­ent from those described by most other myeloma patients writing or com­ment­ing at The Beacon. He would like to know whether his experiences are an exception, and hear from others who have stories similar to his.

Vertebroplasty And Kyphoplasty May Improve Quality Of Life Of Multiple Myeloma Patients – Results from a recent study indicate that vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures improve quality of life of myeloma patients with spinal fractures. Specifically, the re­searchers found that both procedures significantly reduced pain and the need for pain killers and im­proved patients’ physical activity.  Both procedures appeared to be equally effective. Vertebroplasty and ky­pho­plasty are known as vertebral augmentation therapies and have shown in previous studies to de­crease pain in myeloma patients. Verte­bro­plasty involves injecting bone cement directly into the spinal fracture site, which provides pain relief and stabilizes the spine. In kyphoplasty, a balloon is inserted into the fractured bone and inflated to create a void, which is then filled with cement. For more information, please refer to the study in the journal Leukemia (pdf).

Investigational Drug SNX-5422 Shows Some Activity In Multiple Myeloma – Findings from a small Phase 1 trial show that the investigational drug SNX-5422 (PF-04929113), which is being de­vel­oped by the drug development company Esanex, may be effective in stabilizing refractory or relapsed myeloma. The study in­cluded 25 patients with a variety of blood cancers. One patient with myeloma experienced prolonged sta­bili­za­tion of their disease while participating in this study. SNX-5422 belongs to a class of drugs called heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors. Tanespimycin is another Hsp90 inhibitor that was being developed for the treatment of myeloma; however, development of this drug was halted in late-stage clinical trials (see related Beacon news). A Phase 2 study is being planned to test SNX-5422 further in myeloma and lym­pho­ma patients. SNX-5422 is also being investigated for a variety of solid tumors, including breast and lung can­cer. For more information, please see the study in the journal Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leu­ke­mia (abstract).