Pat’s Place: Living One Day At A Time
Finding out that you have multiple myeloma can make you a little neurotic. What else would you expect from someone who has been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer? After all, learning you might...
View ArticlePomalidomide May Be Effective In Myeloma Patients Who Develop Extramedullary...
Results of a recent study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, indicate that pomalidomide may be effective in patients who develop extramedullary disease during treatment with...
View ArticleBeacon NewsFlashes – April 4, 2011
Dr. Edward Libby To Serve As The Myeloma Beacon’s First Medical Advisor – As a medical advisor for The Myeloma Beacon, Dr. Edward Libby, an associate professor of hematology and oncology at the...
View ArticleSean’s Burgundy Thread: Spring Break In Myelomaville
I love it when a well-laid plan comes together and I can thumb my nose at that dastardly myeloma, yet again! My wife, a busy teacher, our two energetic school-aged daughters, and I were excitedly...
View ArticleResearchers Identify Risk Factors For Infectious Complications In Myeloma...
A group of Italian researchers found that elevated monoclonal protein levels and decreased platelet counts are associated with an increased risk of severe infection in multiple myeloma patients treated...
View ArticlePat’s Place: Acceptance May Be The Key To Living A Worry-Free, “New Normal” Life
Today I completed the last of my 13 radiation treatments for the lesion in my right hip. Let’s hear it for lucky 13! As I gathered my things and headed to the changing room, one of the radiation techs...
View ArticleMozobil May Help Myeloma Patients Collect Enough Stem Cells For A Second...
Results of a recent Polish study show that the drug Mozobil may help multiple myeloma patients who previously had a stem cell transplant collect enough stem cells for a second transplant. However, the...
View ArticleFDA Announces Investigation Into Revlimid, Thalidomide, And Secondary Cancers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier today issued a formal announcement that it is investigating the safety of the multiple myeloma treatments Revlimid and thalidomide. The...
View ArticleVertebroplasty Relieves Pain For Multiple Myeloma Patients With Spinal Fractures
A group of Italian researchers found that vertebroplasty provides durable pain relief for multiple myeloma patients with spinal compression fractures. In addition, the procedure reduced the patients’...
View ArticleArnie’s Rebounding World: My Stem Cell Transplant
After three months of induction chemotherapy with vincristine, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and dexamethasone (Decadron), I was ready for my stem cell transplant. From the time I was diagnosed, all I kept...
View ArticleQuestions & Answers About The FDA’s Investigation Into The Safety of Revlimid...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week that it is investigating the safety of the multiple myeloma drugs Revlimid and thalidomide. The Beacon covered this development in an...
View ArticlePat’s Place: We Need To Help Speed Up The Learning Curve For Newly Diagnosed...
By the time I learned I had multiple myeloma, I was really sick. Bedridden from a fractured vertebra and high on narcotics, everything seemed surreal—like I was in a fog. Sure, I searched around a bit...
View ArticlePromising New Drugs For Myeloma: Will The Future Come Soon Enough?
Each year at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology we hear about dozens of new drugs that are able to annihilate multiple myeloma cells in the test tube and in animal models....
View ArticleMitoxantrone And Melphalan Regimen Is Effective And Well Tolerated In...
The use of mitoxantrone and melphalan prior to stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma patients results in favorable survival rates and manageable side effects, according to the results of a...
View ArticleBirds In Spring: Two Inspirational Women Who Faced Myeloma With Strength And...
Back in 1988, Phyllis Susser, one of the founders and the executive director of Herbert G. Birch Community Services (now Birch Family Services), was establishing a home in Brooklyn for abandoned AIDS...
View ArticleMyeloma Research To Be Presented At The 13th International Myeloma Workshop
The 13th International Myeloma Workshop will take place Tuesday, May 3, through Friday, May 6, in Paris. During the four-day meeting, multiple myeloma specialists from all over the world will discuss...
View ArticlePat’s Place: Who Takes Care Of The Caregivers?
My wife, Pattie, is an excellent caregiver. A three-time cancer survivor herself, Pattie knows what it feels like to battle cancer. That experience helps her understand what I am going through. We...
View ArticleStudies Aim To Improve Transplantation Response Rates In Multiple Myeloma...
High-dose melphalan continues to be the gold standard regimen for multiple myeloma patients prior to autologous stem cell therapy, according to a recent review of research investigating alternative...
View ArticleArnie’s Rebounding World: After The Transplant
I finished my stem cell transplant in August of 2006. As I mentioned in my last article, once engrafting of the stem cells takes place, most of the nasty symptoms from the transplant resolve fairly...
View ArticleIMW 2011 Multiple Myeloma Update – Day One
This year’s International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) started in Paris yesterday morning and will continue through Friday. Yesterday’s schedule included three sessions of oral presentations and a poster...
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