HealthTree Podcast for Multiple Myeloma

How do clinical trials work in multiple myeloma? Dr. Nikoletta Lendvai of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center joins us to share information how how trials work, how patients can join and why they benefit by participating. She will also describe open clinical trials at her center including a new drug called Selinexor. Listen in and learn why clinical trials can bring us closer to a cure, faster.  Thanks to our episode sponsor, Takeda Oncology

What can multiple myeloma patients try if they relapse current medications or treatments early? Or if the relapses continue and they become refractory to treatment? With newer drugs now available in the clinic, picking the right combinations at the right time is key for patients. Learn how to educate yourself about the current options and how to position yourself for your best care.   Dr. Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD of the University of Chicago is a myeloma expert who is deeply involved in the creation of clinical trials testing these newer combinations. He shares his expertise on the timing, staging and combinations that are being tested in clinical trials and what he is learning from these studies.  Thanks to our episode sponsor, Takeda Oncology

Now that daratumumab is being used in the clinic, myeloma specialists have more experience with its use. Learn why a new test is in the works to prevent patients from being taken off the drug when they are actually responding and which combinations are the most effective. Dr. Torben Plesner has been running daratumumab clinical trials since its inception and is a myeloma expert with extensive experience with the drug. Thanks to our episode sponsor, Takeda Oncology

For over sixty years Dr. Robert Kyle, MD of the Mayo Clinic led the way in myeloma research and was the pioneer that defined and determined early precursor conditions MGUS and smoldering myeloma in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  He joins us to share over 40 years of data from an extensive longitudinal study and his key findings on these precursor conditions of multiple myeloma. Dr. Kyle's groundbreaking work has changed how smoldering myeloma is diagnosed and treated. Learn what deep expertise can tell us about myeloma progression from these early stages and what it means for you. Special thanks to our episode sponsor, Takeda Oncology

One year ago, we began raising funds for the Myeloma Crowd Research Iniatiive. With the help of an expert Scientific Advisory Board and a knowledgeable Patient Advisory Board, we selected two projects to fund: 1) a CAR T Cell research project targeting CS1 and BCMA from Drs. Hermann Einsele and Michael Hudecek from the University of Würzburg in Germany and 2) a T cell immunotherapy using marrow infiltrating lymphocytes (MILs) with transplant from Dr. Ivan Borrello of Johns Hopkins.  We've now provided an initial $100,000 to each research project. In this episode, Dr. Michael Hudecek gives us an update of his CAR T cell research from the grant award that the Myeloma Crowd Research Initiative has provided. Learn more about what we've done with YOUR support to help advance a cure in this important episode.

Stem cell transplants will continue to be a staple of multiple myeloma therapy because they are highly effective. But can we add something before or after transplant to make them even more powerful? With new maintenance therapies showing greater overall survival and with new drugs and immunotherapies in the mix, what can we add on the front or back end to make transplant even better? Hear from Dr. Philip McCarthy from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, a stem cell transplant expert, about the use of maintenance treatments and up-front options that can give patients more durable outcomes.

Nanotecnology is the study of very small things - won to the atom and molecule level. Researchers at Washingon University have been given a prestigious grant by the NIH to study nanotechnology in cancer and more specifcially, in multiple myeloma. Nanotechnology can deliver a higher concentration (by a hundred fold) of drug in a more targeted way. It can also usie imaging testing (like PET/CT) and MRI to find and selectively target cancerous cells. It can also help kick hiding myeloma cells out into the blood which can then be killed by myeloma drugs. This is a groundbreaking use of new technolgoy in cancer with a team of top experts.

You may have heard about checkpoint inhibitors - drugs that help take the breaks off the immune system to fight multiple myeloma. Learn more about how this new class of drugs is being used with all types of myeloma treatment and when they are best used from Dr. Don Benson, MD, PhD, an immunotherapy expert who has been actively researching this type of therapy for many years.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s (ICER) Midwest Comparative Effective Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) will hold is inaugural meeting on May 26, 2016 in St. Louis “to discuss the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of therapies of multiple myeloma.”  The goal is to create recommendations that health insurers (or payers) will use to determine reimbursement levels for drugs used in myeloma treatment.  Since the public announcement of ICER’s plan in February 2016, the draft reports have been strongly criticized by myeloma specialists, pharmaceutical companies, and more recently, patient advocates.  Steven Pearson will discuss ICER’s perspective, addressing critics of ICER’s methodology, process, definitions of value, and, as of now, the lack of inclusion of patient views.

While immunotherapy approaches expand, proteasome inhibitors remain a staple therapy of multiple myeloma. Learn why they work, how they differ, how the new oral version (Ninlaro) is bringing greater convenience to the clinic, why they continue to be developed and how they are being used in quad combinations with immunotherapies to fight myeloma. Dr. Jacob Laubach shares how they differ, who they work best for (and don't), when they should be used as maintenance therapy and how a new gene may give us clues into who will respond and who will not.  Thanks to our episode sponsor, Takeda Oncology.