It is fair to say that, from multiple myeloma chat groups, support groups, blogs, etc. we have heard or read stories (or, heaven forbid, from personal experience) that fellow patients have come down with a ‘treatment related secondary cancer’. In our case, the majority of those will be skin cancers (basal and squamous cell carcinomas),[...]

Cardiff University researchers have discovered a new a new type of T cell that can kill a variety of cancers, with the hope of creating a general “one-size-fits-all” T cell therapy.  CAR T cell therapy today is commonly “customized” for each cancer patient using their own T cells. A patient has their immune system cells[...]

  The Myeloma Crowd Research Initiative (MCRI) is a new approach to funding cancer research; combining the skill and knowledge of leading myeloma specialists with the patient perspective and supportive patient social communities to select and fund promising research projects in myeloma. A small fraction of multiple myeloma patients may already be cured but researchers[...]

Many myeloma patients are familiar with the chemotherapy called melphalan, which is regularly used as part of the stem cell transplant process. A Swedish company called Oncopeptides AB is developing a new type of similar, but different therapy, that improves the impact of the drug while lowering side effects. Melflufen is also a chemotherapy, but[...]

According to myeloma patient advocate Jack Aiello (definitely not medically trained) (Glossary of terms are below) PREFACE This is my 14th year attending ASH (American Society of Hematology), where over 30,000 attendees from all over the world (hematologists/oncologists, lab researchers, oncology nurses, scientists & 300 pharma companies) present the latest research results via both oral[...]

There already is much excitement in the multiple myeloma community about the possibility of FDA-approval for one or more anti-BCMA CAR-T products in the coming 12-24 months. Early data that have been published offer hope to many of us. There is a common thread, though, in the data seen so far. The products in late[...]

Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) testing is a way of testing how much disease is left after myeloma therapy. MRD testing is now being used more often in the clinic to gauge how well a treatment worked and researchers are hopeful that MRD testing will help clinical trials move along faster. With more myeloma therapies in[...]

“High risk” multiple myeloma may not always be considered high risk if a specific treatment can be found for it.    In multiple myeloma, genetic or DNA mutations can change the way your myeloma behaves. For example, some myeloma patients can have three copies of chromosomes on their myeloma cells instead of the normal two[...]

  What does myeloma treatment look like in the age of immunotherapies? Jenny Ahlstrom, Founder of the Myeloma Crowd hosts three amazing myeloma specialists including Dr. Nina Shah (UCSF), Dr. Faith Davies (NYU) and Dr. Larry Anderson (UT Southwestern) who join the panel for a Patient Power discussion about this important topic.  The discussion reviews[...]

What is “double hit” myeloma? Double hit myeloma is when a patient has two or more high risk myeloma genetic features at the same time. Martin Kaiser, MD is head of the Institute of Cancer Research in London and led a study of over 1000 myeloma patients in the United Kingdom. One of the goals[...]