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A recent study illustrates just how useful minimal residual disease (MRD) testing by flow cytometry is to predict excellent outcomes with new highly active combination therapies. A phase II study from the…
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Questions continue to pour in about measles virotherapy, which I wrote about in my May 22, 2014 blog here. Myeloma patient and advocate Jack Aiello raised an interesting question: "If the massive 100-billion dose of engineered measles…
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This week I had a chance to talk to Dr. Stephen Russell of the Mayo Clinic about the new measles virotherapy findings and the future of virotherapy for myeloma patients, including a virus that may be an…
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The IMF is very pleased to see research from Dr. Stephen Russell at the Mayo Clinic achieving success and starting to make a difference for patients. Dr. Russell presented the concept of this…
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As a great fan of Julia Child, I was very pleased to read Mark Bittman's Op-Ed in the New York Times on March 26th: "Butter Is Back." Bittman's piece is based upon a new article in the…
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The IMF Asia Pacific team members just returned from China, where we participated in the annual activities of the IMF's Chinese Myeloma Working Group (CMWG). The team that was in China for the April 9-13th educational events included Dan Navid (Senior Vice…
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A significant event in the evolution of the IMF's Black Swan Research Initiative occurred this past weekend in Salamanca, Spain. On March 21-22, the IMF-EuroFlow Workshop - co-organized by Lisa Paik (…
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A recent editorial in Leukemia authored by doctors Shaji Kumar and Vincent Rajkumar of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, provides a thoughtful overview of the current status of minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment in…
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This week there are several interesting items in the news that help us understand how and why monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) occurs, and when it may or may not turn into active myeloma.
Matthew Drake and the Mayo Clinic bone research team worked with a group…
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A new study shows that regular aspirin use reduces the risk of myeloma. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University studied 2,395,458 person-years and showed a 39% lower myeloma risk among…
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A recent article in the medical journal Cancer Cell documents the widespread chromosomal abnormalities present in myeloma cells. The sobering data from this study, the largest of its kind, also demonstrate why the promise…
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The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) Black Swan Research Initiative (BSRI) is moving into high gear in the new year.
Building on remarkable progress made by the BSRI team during the last months of 2013, our game-changing…
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Exploring Single-Cell Studies: A Pathway to Myeloma Cure
In the current issue of the journal Science there is a special section called "Single-Cell Biology" (cells go solo). It is now technically feasible to study individual…
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Processed Foods, Cravings, and the Oreo “Addiction” Debate There is a constant flood of information about food. This is partly because we all eat and someone is always trying to sell us a cookie, organic salad, or whatever we want or crave. But it is also because there is a lot of new…
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There are two important news items to report this week. First, an article in Blood reports that current MRD testing for myeloma in the US is producing quite erratic results.
This disturbing assessment is made based upon a survey of 26 major…
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The Role of Big Data in Advancing Myeloma Research and Treatment
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced that it will partner with IBM's Watson…
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A recent article in the New York Times draws attention to how cancers survive and evade the immune system and…
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Global Myeloma Care Guidelines Based on Treatment Access Two recent publications highlight the need to adapt guidelines to accommodate treatment that is truly available in different countries and regions of the world. Myeloma treatment guidelines for …
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Earlier this year the IMF launched the Black Swan Research Initiative, a breakthrough approach to finding a cure for myeloma. Following in our footsteps, others are ramping up their myeloma research efforts. This is great news for myeloma patients, and in science, it's particularly useful to have…
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We know that the Black Swan Research Initiative is critically important, so we want to keep you up to date on our plans and progress. For many patients, their future care may depend on the outcome of our research, and we are often asked for…
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The General Consensus on Moderate Alcohol Use
Recent findings have suggested that consuming at least some alcohol may reduce the risk of myeloma. A new comprehensive analysis (pooled analysis of several studies) of 1,567…
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The Black Swan Research Initiative team has been busy since our spring launch. Team members are laying the groundwork for clinical trials and perfecting the extra-sensitive testing regimes that will allow us to measure minimal residual disease, identify pathways to cures, and improve treatments…
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A recent article by David Berreby in Aeon magazine dubs this "the obesity era" in America. As we are all aware, a high percentage of US citizens are overweight. This is an especially important topic for…
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I have received quite a bit of feedback about my previous blog, mostly with comments or added information. Many readers were happy to learn about the book A History of Food in 100 Recipes…
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It has been a few weeks since I have commented on anything related to food, but three new items have caught my attention. First of all, something really good: a wonderful new book, A History of Food in 100 Recipes, by William…
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As the Black Swan Research Initiative (BSRI-- the IMF's innovative approach to finding a cure for myeloma --moves forward since its official launch in March, more and more myeloma researchers are contributing to the framework that is necessary to reach the project's key objectives. In recent weeks…
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As it approached 11 p.m. on our first night in Stockholm, the IMF team started to experience the lighter side of Stockholm: it was not yet dark! There was a rose-colored glow in the clouds to the west as midsummer's day was approaching in a few days. June 20th was the summer solstice this…
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Key Insights from the IMWG Summit in Stockholm on Myeloma Research
At the 4th Annual International Myeloma Working Group Summit, which just wrapped up in Stockholm, important questions were again considered by over 70 IMWG myeloma researchers from 29 different countries. With a format structured…
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Guangzhou, China -- You may not have heard of Guangzhou, but it is a huge city in southeast China, two hours by car or rail north of Hong Kong--a bustling manufacturing and financial hub with a population of 13 million. The Pearl River Delta mega-city area, which includes…
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Being interviewed by Sheila Dillon for BBC Radio this week was a great pleasure for me. Sheila is a food expert with an interest in the relationship between food and cancer.
A key question was the…
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The IMF team has just returned from the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) meeting in Kyoto, Japan, held from April 3rd through April 7th, 2013. The IMW was like a "mini-ASH" devoted to myeloma.
The meeting had a jam-packed program running from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. with investigators…
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EDIT 3/27/2013: Over the past few weeks I have received many comments on my two most recent blogs. I apologize for not responding to your comments and questions. Please know that they are very important to me. I am traveling to the International Myeloma Workshop in Kyoto, Japan, and will…
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EDIT 3/27/2013: Over the past few weeks I have received many comments on my two most recent blogs. I apologize for not responding to your comments and questions. Please know that they are very important to me. I am traveling to the International Myeloma Workshop in…
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The personal stories of toxic exposures potentially linked to myeloma just keep on coming! I am grateful to all who shared them with me. And once again, the 9/11 compensation fund was in the…
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My recent blog, "New Study Provides Clues to What Causes Myeloma," clearly struck a chord with many myeloma patients. The heartfelt comments and questions are noted and really appreciated. A first point is that New York residents…
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Six months ago, cancer was added to the list of illnesses covered by the $3.4 billion World Trade Center fund. Now, as reported on December 19th in the…
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As I paged through the second edition of Dan Buettner's "The Blue Zones," pondering the benefits of goat's milk, beans, garden vegetables and the like, I suddenly noticed a sentence with the word "cookies" in it! His personal interviews with the centenarians…
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Ikaria Blue Zone Diet and Longevity In the October 28, 2012 issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Dan Buettner discusses "The Blue Zones": places in the world where an unexpectedly…
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After the teleconference on "10 Steps To Better Nutrition," numerous comments, questions, and helpful suggestions came into the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF). It is clear that many details about food and drinks are of great interest. So I will start with some of the…
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We have just returned from a series of meetings in Kyoto, Japan: July 6-8, 2012. Kyoto is the site for the IMW (International Myeloma Workshop) meeting in April 2013 so it was especially helpful to have a preview of the city and International Conference Center (ICC) venue. The ICC is a large center…
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This may sound like a skit from "Saturday Night Live," but unfortunately, the connection is real. The first thing to emphasize is that, although it is real, further investigation is required before cookies are added to the "do not eat" list.
Acrylamide
The concern comes…
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Whether or not to seek a second opinion is a key question and a concern for all patients with myeloma. This 10-step summary attempts to answer the "ifs, whens, and hows" related to seeking a second opinion.
1.) Should you consider a second opinion?
It is…
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A return visit to Asia by the IMF team of me, Susie Novis and Senior Global Analyst Dan Navid this past week was an exhilarating blur of activities that instructed, impressed and touched us deeply.
On Thursday morning we visited the sponsoring institution--Shanghai Changzheng University…
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A recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine brought to attention the fact that tumors do not have a single genetic type or signature. Multiple biopsies revealed diverse genetic patterns within the same cancer samples in the same patients. No longer can we rely upon a…
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The United States is running out of Methotrexate®, which is part of a drug cocktail that cures acute lymphatic leukemia in children. Why? Because there is not enough profit in manufacturing and distributing…
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Last year, the IMF experienced a first at the Boca Raton Patient & Family Seminar. Part of the way through the Friday night dinner, Bob and Cindy Feltzin - longtime supporters of the IMF and leaders in the South Florida…
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Myeloma patients need access to information about their disease to get the best care. The IMF has been enhancing educational activities in Europe for over 15 years. In 2011, there were 10 Patient & Family seminars (PFS), 7 Community Workshops, and 7 Doctor Community…
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This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York. Among the casualties sustained that day, were a number of first responders who, instead of running away from dangerous ash clouds that enveloped the streets of Manhattan, ran toward them in the…
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Last weekend, the IMF held our fourth and final Patient & Family Seminar of the year in Philadelphia, PA. We had an uninvited guest make her presence known in the form of Hurricane…
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I have just returned from the IMF's visit to China where there are more myeloma patients than anywhere else in the world. It is with this in mind that the IMF has established the Asian Myeloma Network, to address the growing incidence in one of the world's…