High-Risk vs. Standard-Risk Multiple Myeloma: What Patients Need to Know in 1 Minute (https://www.myeloma.org/videos/high-risk-vs-standard-risk-multiple-myeloma-patients-need-know-1-minute)
High-Risk vs. Standard-Risk Multiple Myeloma: What Patients Need to Know in 1 Minute
What’s the difference between high-risk and standard-risk multiple myeloma?
International Myeloma Foundation Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael explains how risk levels are determined, why they matter, and what it means for your treatment—in under one minute. Learn more at myeloma.org (https://www.myeloma.org/).
Dr. Joseph Mikhael:
High-risk myeloma versus standard-risk myeloma. What's the difference? Hi, everyone. Dr. Joseph Mikhael, Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, and I'm going to break down high-risk versus standard-risk myeloma in less than a minute.
Multiple myeloma is a disease of a wide spectrum, from low-risk disease to high-risk disease. What does that mean? It means that there are patients whose disease is slower growing and those patients that have a disease that is faster growing. We make this distinction primarily based on the genes of the plasma cells or of the cancer cells that we evaluate. So you want to find out from your doctor, do you have any genes that are high-risk, or are you standard-risk? This has implications for how we treat patients, how aggressively they get treated, and their prognosis as well.
For more information about myeloma, or if you have personal questions related to your own or a loved one's diagnosis, please visit us at myeloma.org.
Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, FASCO
International Myeloma Foundation Medical Advisor
TGen, City of Hope Cancer Center—Phoenix, AZ, USA
Dr Mikhael is a Professor in the Clinical Genomics and Therapeutics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also the Director of Myeloma research at the HonorHealth Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dr Mikhael specializes clinically in plasma cell disorders, namely multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. He is the PI of many clinical trials, primarily in relapsed multiple myeloma, and his other clinical research interests include pharmaco-economics, communication skills, and media relations.
Dr. Mikhael recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) from 2018 to 2026 – he now serves as Medical Advisor to the IMF to provide guidance and strategic input in areas such as patient education, health disparities, collaboration with partners, international research, and publications.
Dr Mikhael has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in these fields and lectures internationally on a regular basis. Dr. Mikhael is deeply committed to health disparities in myeloma and is the chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council at TGen. Dr. Mikhael is heavily involved in training future researchers and mentors junior faculty worldwide. Dr. Mikhael is an active member of the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) and recently led the ASCO guidelines in myeloma. Dr. Mikhael also serves as the Treasurer on the executive of the American Society of Hematology.
Dr. Mikhael did his medical training in Canada, including a fellowship in Multiple Myeloma at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. He also obtained his master’s degree in education from the University of Toronto. He then worked at the Mayo Clinic Arizona as a Hematologist from 2008-2018.