Multiple Myeloma and Cancer News

See the September newsletter for information about:

• From the HealthTree website- New FDA accelerated approval.
  Pfizer announced on Monday, August 14th that their new bi-specific antibody, elranatamab, had been granted accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients. Elranatamab is commercially known as ELREXFIO.
  
  The approval of ELREXFIO, which targets the BCMA protein found on the surface of myeloma cells, is for myeloma patients that have received at least four prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor (such as VELCADE), an immunomodulatory agent (such as REVLIMID), and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody (such as DARZALEX).|
  
  
• This subject came up in a phone discussion with one of our group members. Thought you might find this beneficial to know the differences.
  Understanding Relapse In Multiple Myeloma
  POSTED: AUG 22, 2023 HealthTree
  (See the newsletter for further details)

See the August newsletter for information about:

• Condolences
  
• I (Jayne) now have these educational tool kits.
  The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation has a new educational tool kit! I have requested 20 copies and will let you know when they are here. This will be helpful for newly diagnosed group members. It is titled “Your Myeloma Journey Guide”.
  Included in the tool kit
  
  • Multiple Myeloma Treatment Overview
  • Multiple Myeloma Disease Overview
  • Caregiver Guide
  • Precision Medicine Booklet
  • Myeloma Booklet
  • Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Booklet
  • Immunotherapy Booklet
  • Patient Resource Guide
    
• New testing information from the IMF
  Dr Durie's blog on -Next Generation Testing
  The introduction of better therapies that frequently produce very deep response has necessitated reliable monitoring at low levels of the disease, even beyond traditional complete response (CR). Two
  types of testing have been introduced to detect myeloma at these low levels of disease.
  
• Drug Classes Made Simple from the IMF ( see the entire video on their website)

See the July newsletter for information about:

• I (Jayne) now have these educational tool kits.
  The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation has a new educational tool kit! I have requested 20 copies and will let you know when they are here. This will be helpful for newly diagnosed group members.
  
  It is titled “Your Myeloma Journey Guide”
  Included in the tool kit:
  • Multiple Myeloma Treatment Overview
  • Multiple Myeloma Disease Overview
  • Caregiver Guide
  • Precision Medicine Booklet
  • Myeloma Booklet
  • Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Booklet
  • Immunotherapy Booklet
  • Patient Resource Guide
    
• This is interesting research and worth sharing in this newsletter.
  REVERSING T-CELL EXHAUSTION WITH ANTIOXIDANTS
  (Clinical trial information- Lymphoma)
  
• Just a quick note on the next article - Interesting dynamics to how the body reacts to Dexamethasone. A bit technical but hang in there. It all makes sense in the end.
  The Best Time to Take Dexamethasone and Why
  From the HealthTree Foundation

See the June newsletter for information about:

• Condolences
  
• Educational tool kits.
  
  The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation has a new educational tool kit! I have requested 20 copies and will let you know when they are here. This will be helpful for newly diagnosed group members. It is titled “Your Myeloma Journey Guide”. Included in the tool kit :
  • Multiple Myeloma Treatment Overview
  • Multiple Myeloma Disease Overview
  • Caregiver Guide
  • Precision Medicine Booklet
  • Myeloma Booklet
  • Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Booklet
  • Immunotherapy Booklet
  • Patient Resource Guide

See the May newsletter for information about:

• The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation has a new educational tool kit! I have requested 20 copies and will let you know when they are here. This will be helpful for newly diagnosed group members. It is titled “Your Myeloma Journey Guide”.
  Included in the tool kit :
  • Multiple Myeloma Treatment Overview
  • Multiple Myeloma Disease Overview
  • Caregiver Guide
  • Precision Medicine Booklet
  • Myeloma Booklet
  • Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Booklet
  • Immunotherapy Booklet
  • Patient Resource Guide
    
    
• At our last group meeting, there was some discussion about making sure that you share all your concerns with your healthcare team. You may think that you are just going to “tough it out” or that it is not important enough to bring up. (See the newsletter for more)

See the April newsletter for information about:

• During the support group meeting, there has been some conversation around IVIG. Here is an explanation of what it is all about.
• Support The Safe Step Act- IMF Advocacy works continues...

See the March newsletter for information about:

• March is Myeloma Awareness Month

See the February newsletter for information about:

• Did you know you can track your myeloma using HealthTree CureHub? You can even track your myeloma from several facilities and put everything in a single place. This includes your:
  
  • Myeloma labs (manually added or with the help of our HealthTree Connect App)
  • Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) status
  • Myeloma genetics
  • Current health and fitness status
  • Prior lines of treatment and outcomes
  • Side effects for each line of therapy
  • Other important health information, like family history of cancer
    
    When you create an account at any of the HealthTree Foundation programs, such as the Myeloma Coach, Myeloma Community Program (events), or HealthTree CureHub, you get access to all of the other programs using the same username and password.
    
• An interesting article from ASH
  ASH 2022: Seniors Enjoy Life with Less Dex

See the January newsletter for information about:

• Tecvayli (Teclistamab-cqyv) receives FDA Approval
  
• Another great article from the Myeloma Today....Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

See the December newsletter for information about:

• Bisphosphonate therapy (from the IMF)
  
• Formerly the Myeloma Crowd, the HealthTree website has many interesting features.

See the November newsletter for information about:

• HealthTree Myeloma Landing for their emails about presentations (both future and archived). There are also educational articles and materials on many subjects. Sign up today.
  
• From the IMF...Attached to the email from Jayne is their monthly newsletter. Of special interest is the updated “Myeloma Terms and Definitions” documents and the FDA approved Myeloma Treatments.

See the October newsletter for information about:

• Posted by the HealthTree Foundation September 27, 2022 by Jennifer Ahlstrom: What is Anemia in Multiple Myeloma?
  
• Clinical Trial: Testing a New On-Body Delivery System for Isatuximab in Multiple Myeloma

See the September newsletter for information about:

• Update! This is new information about the Trillium Research Fund.
  We have a new contact, Janie Winston.
  
• Talquetamab – Breaking news for another treatment option.
  HealthTree for Multiple Myeloma recently posted summary results of several studies that included Talquetamab as part of the clinical treatment program. Talquetamab is an investigational, off-the-shelf, T-cell redirecting bispecific antibody.

See the August newsletter for information about:

• Thank you to group member David for sharing this unique perspective on living with a chronic illness.
  How to live with chronic illness | Psyche Guides
• An excerpt from Dr Durie's blog of July 14, 2022 What does the future hold? Hopes and Challenges for 2022-2026 and Beyond: The Future is Bright.

See the July newsletter for information about:

• CARVYKTI Cart T Cell Therapy On February 28th, the FDA approved a second Car-T treatment for relapsed or refractory myeloma.
  Carvykti is a personalized B-cell maturation antigen. It works by finding and binding to BCMA, a protein that is found almost universally on myeloma cells.

See the June newsletter for information about:

• According to a recent study- Tixagevimab-cilgavimab (Evusheld) appears less effective against the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in patients with hematologic cancer, according to research published in Cancer Cell.
  
• Some highlights of the May meeting featuring Christina Nielsen from the LLS.

See the May newsletter for information about:

• New and Updated IMF Publications in 2022
  
• From the IMF - First Generic Revlimid (lenalidomide) Launched

See the April newsletter for information about:

• When will we resume in-person meetings?
• Standard-Risk vs. High-Risk multiple myeloma
• There are a couple more updated booklets from the IMF

See the March newsletter for information about:

• The IMF’s New Tip Card on Bispecific Therapy This new tip card can be downloaded to learn more about bispecific therapy. Bispecific antibody therapies are a combination of two immunotherapy approaches in one drug. Bispecifics are comprised of two monoclonal antibodies that bind to two different antigens and trigger the immune system to destroy the patient’s myeloma cells.
• Very interesting article and easy to read published by
  the Wisconsin State Journal on Sunday February 6, 2022.
• CancerCare's CAR T-Cell Therapy: What's New
• President Biden Reinvigorates Cancer Moonshot Initiative

See the February newsletter for information about:

• Newest Publication from the IMF in printed booklet format and PDF format available now.
• Understanding ABECMA® (idecabtagene vicleucel) Abecma® (idecabtagene vicleucel, “ide-cel”) is the first-in-class BCMA-directed CAR T-cell immunotherapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in myeloma. Abecma is a personalized immune cell therapy delivered as a one-time infusion, manufactured for each individual patient using the patient’s own white blood cells. The digital version of the booklet is available for viewing and downloading at the IMF website. The Master trial has generated a lot of interest and exciting results.
  ASH 2021: One Step Closer to Chemo Free Living?
• An attachment about the FDA approval of the Long Acting Monoclonal antibody