The Myeloma Beacon yesterday published a news article summarizing results of a study investigating testos­terone levels in people recently diag­nosed with multiple myeloma. The study, which was conducted at Ohio State University, found that almost three quarters of recently diag­nosed myeloma patients have testos­terone levels that are low for their gender and age.

To understand more about the study and its implications for people with multiple myeloma, The Beacon contacted Dr. Craig Hofmeister, a myeloma specialist and one …

Results of a recent ob­ser­va­tion­al study in­di­cate that a sub­stan­tial majority of recently diag­nosed mul­ti­ple myeloma patients have low testos­terone levels.

Researchers at Ohio State Uni­ver­sity tested testos­terone levels in the blood of over 550 people with a plasma cell disorder. More than 90 per­cent of the study par­tic­i­pants had either mul­ti­ple myeloma, smol­der­ing mul­ti­ple myeloma, MGUS, or a plasmacytoma. Across all the study par­tic­i­pants, 74 per­cent had testos­terone levels that were low given their gender and age.

Testosterone levels were measured within six months of diag­nosis. Among the study par­tic­i­pants who …

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) …