Blood Cancer Awareness Month
September 07, 2021Information
September 5, 2021
Yale Cancer Center
visit: http://www.yalecancercenter.org
email: canceranswers@yale.edu
call: 203-785-4095
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- 00:00Funding for Yale Cancer Answers
- 00:02is provided by Smilow Cancer
- 00:04Hospital and AstraZeneca.
- 00:08Welcome to Yale Cancer Answers with
- 00:10your host doctor Anees Chagpar.
- 00:12Yale Cancer Answers features the
- 00:14latest information on cancer care by
- 00:17welcoming oncologists and specialists
- 00:18who are on the forefront of the
- 00:21battle to fight cancer. This week
- 00:22it's a conversation about multiple
- 00:24myeloma and other hematologic
- 00:26conditions with Doctor Terri Parker.
- 00:28Dr Parker is an assistant professor
- 00:30of medicine in hematology at
- 00:32the Yale School of Medicine,
- 00:33where Doctor Chagpar is a
- 00:36professor of surgical oncology.
- 00:39Terri, maybe we can start off by you
- 00:40telling us a little bit about
- 00:41yourself and about what you do.
- 00:43My specialty focuses on plasma cell
- 00:46neoplasms or plasma cell disorders.
- 00:48The most common of which is multiple
- 00:51myeloma, which is considered to
- 00:52be a haematological malignancy.
- 00:54So let's back up a little bit.
- 00:57What exactly is a plasma cell?
- 00:59A plasma cell is a
- 01:01type of white blood cell that
- 01:03is found in the bone marrow.
- 01:05It's derived from a B lymphocyte,
- 01:07which is another type of white
- 01:09blood cell again found in the bone marrow.
- 01:11Tell us about multiple
- 01:14myeloma and what exactly it is.
- 01:16I mean when we think about
- 01:18cancers of white blood cells,
- 01:20oftentimes we're thinking about leukemias
- 01:22lymphomas, is multiple myeloma
- 01:24a type of that,
- 01:26is it different? Tell us more.
- 01:29As stated, a multiple
- 01:31myeloma is considered to be a
- 01:33hematological malignancy and so
- 01:35that term encompasses leukemias,
- 01:37lymphomas, and plasma cell neoplasms,
- 01:40of which multiple myeloma is one.
- 01:42So in multiple myeloma the
- 01:44abnormal cell is a plasma cell
- 01:46and these plasma cells proliferate or
- 01:49increase in number in the bone marrow.
- 01:52It's really not known what causes
- 01:54the plasma cells to proliferate in
- 01:57the majority of individuals,
- 01:58and it's this proliferation that
- 02:00is defined as multiple myeloma.
- 02:08In general, blood cancers
- 02:11are pretty rare, right?
- 02:13If you look at multiple myeloma,
- 02:15it's currently the 14th most
- 02:17common cancer in the United States
- 02:19and it represents roughly 1.8%
- 02:21of all new cancers diagnosed
- 02:23so not as common as some of
- 02:25our solid tumors that we see.
- 02:26And where does it rank relative
- 02:29to leukemia and lymphoma?
- 02:31There's some leukemias
- 02:34that are more common and some that are rare,
- 02:36so probably somewhere in
- 02:38the middle, not to be too specific.
- 02:41And who gets
- 02:45these blood cell cancers?
- 02:47These hematologic malignancies.
- 02:49Are there certain risk factors that put
- 02:51people at risk for developing them?
- 02:54As I stated previously
- 02:57for multiple myeloma,
- 02:58for most people we don't really know
- 03:00why they developed the disease.
- 03:02However, there are some factors that may
- 03:04increase the risk of developing myeloma.
- 03:07One is age, so the majority of people
- 03:10are over the age of 50 at diagnosis.
- 03:13With the current median age of diagnosis
- 03:15here in the United States being 69,
- 03:18another risk factor is a precursor condition
- 03:21known as Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance
- 03:24also known as MGUS.
- 03:30Tell us more about that.
- 03:32MGUS is considered to be a precursor condition
- 03:35and the individuals are asymptomatic and
- 03:38it's usually discovered when blood
- 03:41work is done for another complaint,
- 03:44sometimes it can be that a primary care
- 03:47physician notices that there's an increase
- 03:49in protein in a simple serum chemistry.
- 03:52So that's a blood test that's
- 03:54done for another reason.
- 03:55Sometimes this laboratory work is
- 03:57done for evaluation of other problems
- 04:00such as osteoporosis or neuropathies
- 04:03and then they get referred to a
- 04:06hematologist and have further evaluation
- 04:08that then reveals this precursor state.
- 04:11Those are pretty
- 04:15general risk factors in terms of age
- 04:18and MGUS for multiple myeloma.
- 04:20Are there risk factors for lymphoma
- 04:23and leukemia as well?
- 04:29In general, age again plays a
- 04:31factor as we do tend to see certain
- 04:34leukemias in older individuals.
- 04:36It again depends on the type of leukemia,
- 04:38as there are different types.
- 04:39Acute and chronic lymphoid versus
- 04:42myeloid. And other potential risks
- 04:46can include environmental exposures,
- 04:49so there have been studies looking
- 04:50at the link between radiation in
- 04:53addition to certain chemical exposures
- 04:55such as pesticides or Agent Orange.
- 04:58And so those increase your risk of
- 05:02leukemias and lymphomas, but not
- 05:04of multiple myeloma. Is that right?
- 05:06Multiple Myeloma as well,
- 05:08there have been studies
- 05:09specifically looking at Agent Orange
- 05:11and pesticides as well as radiation
- 05:14so you know pesticides is something that I
- 05:16think a lot of people kind of worry about.
- 05:19And you know, as we're heading into the fall,
- 05:22people are still using
- 05:23pesticides as they're trying to
- 05:25tend their lawn and do their gardening,
- 05:27get everything ready
- 05:29for the winter.
- 05:30Should people really be concerned about
- 05:33pesticides or are there particular
- 05:35pesticides that they should watch out
- 05:38for and others that might be safer?
- 05:41That's a good question and I don't
- 05:43have a specific answer for you
- 05:44and a lot of these are
- 05:47looked at and some of the common
- 05:49pesticides that people may use
- 05:51may have warnings on them most of
- 05:54the time people are usually safe
- 05:56because they're using the regular
- 05:58household pesticides or chemicals
- 05:59if you will and ventilated
- 06:02outdoor space and really
- 06:03have minimal exposure.
- 06:05I think that that's
- 06:07kind of good information to get across.
- 06:09Just because
- 06:10people can sometimes worry about
- 06:12these things, but
- 06:13it may be that it's really not as
- 06:16toxic as some people may think,
- 06:18unless you're in contact
- 06:21with them in large quantities.
- 06:24So now that we've talked
- 06:26about the risk factors,
- 06:27how do people present with
- 06:31these hematologic malignancies?
- 06:33For a solid tumor,
- 06:37tumors we often can find a lump,
- 06:39or we'll have some bleeding
- 06:42or will have some pain.
- 06:45Blood cells don't generally
- 06:46cause those things, do they?
- 06:51If we walk
- 06:53through each thing individually,
- 06:55for patients who have leukemia
- 06:58a lot of times they will present
- 07:00with abnormal blood counts.
- 07:02By that I mean an abnormal
- 07:03white blood cell count,
- 07:04hemoglobin or red cells or platelets,
- 07:07which are the cell that helps prevent
- 07:10you from bleeding or blood clots.
- 07:12Sometimes an individual will be diagnosed
- 07:15when they have a blood count done
- 07:17for another reason and it's picked
- 07:19up because there's an abnormality.
- 07:21Sometimes people present because these
- 07:24abnormalities lead to other symptoms.
- 07:26For example, if there's an
- 07:27alteration in a white blood cell
- 07:29count is specifically a lower
- 07:31white blood cell count,
- 07:32someone may develop more frequent or
- 07:36recurrent infections if the red cells or
- 07:38hemoglobin is low.
- 07:39That's also known as anemia,
- 07:41and patients can
- 07:43become more tired or fatigued,
- 07:45and if their platelet count
- 07:46is reduced they can present
- 07:48with bleeding or easy bruising,
- 07:50so sometimes these people present
- 07:52because they have other symptoms and
- 07:54then it's revealed that these symptoms
- 07:56are because of a low blood count.
- 07:59For individuals who have lymphomas,
- 08:01sometimes they will present with a
- 08:03large lymph node and so in that case
- 08:05they may have a lump or bump if you will
- 08:08that causes them to present to medical
- 08:11attention and then for multiple myeloma,
- 08:14which is what I specifically focus in,
- 08:16sometimes people will not have any
- 08:18symptoms and again it's picked
- 08:20up because blood work is done
- 08:22for another reason,
- 08:23like an elevated total protein on a serum
- 08:26chemistry which is a type of blood test.
- 08:29Other symptoms that individuals
- 08:30could have could again be anemia.
- 08:32If the plasma cells increase in the
- 08:34bone marrow to the point where they
- 08:37start crowding out the normal cells,
- 08:39plasma cells also produce high amounts
- 08:41of protein that can be seen in the
- 08:43blood that are cleared through the
- 08:45kidneys and could lead to renal
- 08:47dysfunction or failure in severe
- 08:49cases if it has not been recognized,
- 08:52and plasma cells also accumulate in the bone,
- 08:54that can lead to weakness of the
- 08:56bone and hence pain or fractures.
- 09:00And so it sounds like a lot of these are
- 09:03really picked up on basic blood tests
- 09:05that you have when you go to your doctor.
- 09:08So how frequently should you be
- 09:11having routine blood tests done?
- 09:13Especially if these things don't generally
- 09:14present with a lot of symptoms?
- 09:18There isn't currently
- 09:20screening that's recommended
- 09:22for multiple myeloma or MGUS
- 09:25which is the precursor condition.
- 09:27So typically we tell patients
- 09:30to follow the guidance from
- 09:31their primary care physician,
- 09:33meaning their blood work really depends
- 09:36on other medical problems.
- 09:38For example, if someone
- 09:39has a heart condition,
- 09:41diabetes or another medical issue,
- 09:43they're probably going to have blood
- 09:45work done more frequently because
- 09:47of monitoring of that condition and
- 09:49the medications that are needed.
- 09:54When you talk about these
- 09:57conditions being found in older patients,
- 10:00who are also the ones more likely
- 10:03to have other comorbidities that
- 10:05will require routine blood tests,
- 10:08I wonder how many people who are younger
- 10:11might be walking around completely
- 10:14asymptomatic but actually harboring
- 10:16one of these hematologic malignancies
- 10:20that have never been picked up simply
- 10:22because they've never had a blood test.
- 10:23Is that possible or do these things
- 10:26actually then progress to the
- 10:28point of being symptomatic?
- 10:30Again when you talk about
- 10:33hematologic malignancies
- 10:33that's a very broad topic and so
- 10:37everyone is very individualized.
- 10:40And so if we look at multiple
- 10:43myeloma for individuals with
- 10:44the precursor condition MGUS,
- 10:47they can be asymptomatic for years
- 10:49and for many patients
- 10:52it never progresses.
- 10:55For individuals who have a low risk
- 10:56MGUS we
- 11:00tell them that the risk of
- 11:02progression is roughly 1% per year.
- 11:03So there's a large majority of
- 11:06people who will never progress.
- 11:07If someone has multiple myeloma
- 11:09and it's left untreated,
- 11:11it will progress to the point where
- 11:13they may develop syptoms,
- 11:15what was discussed being
- 11:17anemia leading to fatigue, potential
- 11:20kidney damage, or bone damage,
- 11:23so those patients will progress and
- 11:25become symptomatic at some point,
- 11:27it's difficult to predict that
- 11:28rate of progression.
- 11:30And what about
- 11:32for lymphomas and leukemias?
- 11:35Are those also ones that
- 11:38will progress to symptoms?
- 11:40Or is it possible for them to
- 11:42be pretty asymptomatic until
- 11:43they actually end up having a
- 11:46test that that diagnosis it?
- 11:48Yeah, so for your acute leukemias,
- 11:51and even the majority of
- 11:53your chronic leukemias,
- 11:54they will often progress again,
- 11:56varying rates of progression to the point
- 11:59where people will become symptomatic.
- 12:00Similarly, if someone had an aggressive
- 12:03lymphoma or a high grade lymphoma,
- 12:05they would progress to the point of symptoms.
- 12:07It is possible for individuals
- 12:10who have a indolent or a slowly
- 12:12progressing lymphoma that they
- 12:14may have had it for several years
- 12:16before the point of progression.
- 12:18The other question that I had was
- 12:20you talk about one of the
- 12:23things that's often a trigger to
- 12:25finding diagnosis of these
- 12:29conditions as being anemia.
- 12:31And for example, in multiple myeloma,
- 12:34where the plasma cells kind
- 12:35of crowd out other cells,
- 12:36and so the red blood cell count goes down.
- 12:41Two questions,
- 12:42first question is oftentimes anemia,
- 12:44especially in older people,
- 12:46can be associated with other things, right?
- 12:50GI bleeds,
- 12:52losing blood from other sources,
- 12:55iron deficiency anemia.
- 12:56How do you really tell that this
- 12:59is from something like multiple
- 13:02myeloma versus other things?
- 13:05Yeah, that's a really good question,
- 13:08and as you mentioned,
- 13:09people who are older and even
- 13:11younger individuals can have
- 13:13anemia for a variety of reasons.
- 13:15So typically we will work up and
- 13:17do a basic anemia evaluation,
- 13:20which includes looking at
- 13:22things like iron deficiency,
- 13:23other nutritional deficiencies,
- 13:25vitamin B12, and folic acid to
- 13:27make sure we exclude kind of
- 13:30the most common and treatable
- 13:33reasons for anemia first and then
- 13:35when we really don't have a source,
- 13:37then we kind of go on to kind of that
- 13:39next level of evaluation that does
- 13:42include hematological disorders.
- 13:44Well, we're gonna need to take a
- 13:46short break for a medical minute,
- 13:48but when we get back we'll learn
- 13:50more about how to diagnose and treat
- 13:52these hematologic conditions with
- 13:54my guest doctor Terri Parker.
- 13:57Funding for Yale Cancer Answers comes
- 13:58from AstraZeneca, dedicated to
- 14:01advancing options and providing
- 14:02hope for people living with cancer.
- 14:05More information at
- 14:08astrazeneca-us.com.
- 14:11There are many obstacles to
- 14:12face when quitting smoking.
- 14:14As smoking involves the potent drug
- 14:15Nicotine. Quitting smoking is a
- 14:18very important lifestyle change,
- 14:19especially for patients
- 14:21undergoing cancer treatment,
- 14:22as it's been shown to positively
- 14:25impact response to treatments and
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- 14:32Tobacco treatment programs are
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- 14:50smoking cessation counseling that
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- 14:54More information is available at Yale
- 14:56Cancer Center dot org. You're listening
- 14:58to Connecticut Public Radio.
- 15:01Welcome back to Yale Cancer Answers.
- 15:03This is doctor Anees Chagpar
- 15:05and I'm joined tonight by
- 15:07my guest doctor Terri Parker.
- 15:08We're talking about hematogic
- 15:10malignancies,
- 15:11and particularly Doctor Parker's
- 15:14specialty of multiple myeloma.
- 15:16Now, right before the break,
- 15:18Terri, you were saying that a lot of people
- 15:22are diagnosed with multiple myeloma when
- 15:25anemia is found on a routine blood test.
- 15:29And that
- 15:30the first step is oftentimes to
- 15:31rule out the things that are common,
- 15:35rule out iron deficiency,
- 15:38anemia and B12, and folic acid.
- 15:41And all of those good things.
- 15:42But ultimately,
- 15:43if all of those things are ruled out,
- 15:46how then does the diagnosis
- 15:48proceed for people actually to be
- 15:51found to have multiple myeloma?
- 15:53And so the first step is actually
- 15:55additional blood in urine studies,
- 15:57so we will do a battery of tests,
- 16:00specifically tests that are called a serum
- 16:03protein electrophoresis,
- 16:04which is a blood test that looks to
- 16:07see if there's an increase in abnormal
- 16:10or monoclonal protein in the blood.
- 16:12We do a similar test in the urine.
- 16:14We will test other specific things
- 16:17called an immunofixation electrophoresis,
- 16:19quantitative immunoglobulins,
- 16:20and serum free light chains.
- 16:23And we put together all of these blood
- 16:26test and urine studies to determine if
- 16:28there is a monoclonal protein present
- 16:31which is a protein that's being secreted
- 16:34by an abnormal plasma cell.
- 16:36And so if you find that,
- 16:39then that means that people have
- 16:42multiple myeloma?
- 16:44Not necessarily, as I mentioned earlier,
- 16:45we can see a monoclonal
- 16:48protein precursor conditions,
- 16:49and so we take a look at the whole picture.
- 16:52So we look at the amount
- 16:54of monoclonal protein.
- 16:55If the patient has any other
- 16:58systemic symptoms, such as anemia,
- 17:01renal kidney insufficiency,
- 17:04or bone pain,
- 17:06this is more consistent with what
- 17:08we would call a monoclonal gammopathy
- 17:11of undetermined significance,
- 17:13that would be considered low risk
- 17:14that we would just have to observe,
- 17:17or if there were a significant amount
- 17:19of protein or other symptoms that
- 17:22would make us go one step further,
- 17:24which would be a bone marrow biopsy,
- 17:26which is the definitive way to
- 17:29diagnose multiple myeloma.
- 17:31And so when somebody has a bone
- 17:34marrow biopsy what exactly does that
- 17:36tell you?
- 17:39The bone marrow
- 17:40biopsy itself tells us what is the actual
- 17:44percentage of abnormal plasma cells.
- 17:47So we're looking for these abnormal
- 17:49or monoclonal plasma cells.
- 17:51So kind of one type of plasma cell,
- 17:53and they need to be over
- 17:5610% in the bone marrow.
- 17:57So that's what we're looking for,
- 17:59and that is diagnostic of multiple myeloma.
- 18:02And then if you find that,
- 18:04what's the next step?
- 18:05Is there staging or do you
- 18:07go straight to treatment?
- 18:08How does that work?
- 18:10Then we have to make another determination
- 18:13so we have what we call smoldering
- 18:16Multiple myeloma, which are symptomatic
- 18:23so individuals who have smoldering multiple
- 18:25myeloma meet that strict cutoff of 10%
- 18:29involvement of bone marrow but
- 18:31are really otherwise asymptomatic,
- 18:33meaning they don't have anemia,
- 18:36they have preserved kidney function,
- 18:39their calcium levels are within normal range,
- 18:42they don't have any bone pains or what we
- 18:45call lytic lesions or holes in their bones,
- 18:48and so these people we would really observe.
- 18:50But they have a higher risk of
- 18:52progression to symptomatic multiple
- 18:54myeloma that would need treatment.
- 18:56Wait a minute, wait a minute.
- 18:57So how do these people with
- 19:00smoldering multiple myeloma
- 19:02present if they don't have anemia?
- 19:04They don't have any
- 19:06abnormal kidney function.
- 19:07How do you see them?
- 19:10Yeah, so a lot of times these individuals
- 19:13are referred because they had a blood
- 19:16test done and that was what we call
- 19:19a comprehensive metabolic panel that
- 19:21included a total protein and they
- 19:23were noted to have a total protein
- 19:25that was elevated and so their primary
- 19:28care physician picked up that the
- 19:30total protein was high and then sent
- 19:32them for further evaluation for an
- 19:34issue such as a monoclonal protein.
- 19:36So that's one way we often will see
- 19:38these individuals, another is that monoclonal
- 19:43gammopathy's and multiple myeloma can
- 19:46be associated with other medical problems,
- 19:48for example as serum protein electrophoresis,
- 19:52which is the blood tests that we do
- 19:54as part of the evaluation for myeloma
- 19:57is often done an evaluation for
- 20:00secondary causes for osteoporosis,
- 20:02so sometimes patients will have it done as
- 20:05a work up if they are have osteoporosis at
- 20:08a younger age.
- 20:11We also can see neuropathy,
- 20:13so that's kind of numbness and tingling
- 20:16in the extremities in patients who
- 20:18have come up with these as well and
- 20:20so sometimes a neurologist as part
- 20:21of a work up for other reasons for a
- 20:24patient to have a peripheral neuropathy
- 20:26will send these studies,
- 20:28so that's how a lot of these
- 20:30patients present to us
- 20:31if they don't have any other organ damage.
- 20:34So these people with smoldering
- 20:38multiple myeloma
- 20:40still could have symptoms, right?
- 20:42They could still have this
- 20:43peripheral neuropathy,
- 20:44or they could still have osteoporosis,
- 20:47but they just can't have the other
- 20:49things that you mentioned, right?
- 20:51The anemia, the kidney function,
- 20:53the lytic lesions of the bone?
- 20:55Do I have that right?
- 20:56Yeah, that's
- 20:57right. So they can't really have
- 20:59what we call this end organ damage.
- 21:01You know our classification between
- 21:03smoldering myeloma and myeloma
- 21:05has changed over the years,
- 21:08and we now also have a set of criteria
- 21:11that I call my myeloma defining
- 21:13events which don't have to be organ
- 21:15damage but just a kind of a significant
- 21:18amount of disease burden, and we will
- 21:21treat those individuals as myeloma,
- 21:22even if they don't have any of the other
- 21:25classic symptoms you just mentioned.
- 21:26So really, we're looking for a significant
- 21:29involvement of the bone marrow,
- 21:31and we classify that as over 60%
- 21:33involvement or a very significant
- 21:36serum free light chain burden.
- 21:38And for those individuals we will treat them
- 21:41as multiple myeloma,
- 21:42even if they don't have those classic
- 21:44end organ damage that we mentioned.
- 21:46What does treatment entail?
- 21:49Yeah, so treatment for a
- 21:51newly diagnosed patient is
- 21:54a combination of drugs.
- 21:57Typically what you would
- 21:58consider chemotherapy.
- 21:59So we often refer to it as frontline
- 22:02or induction chemotherapy,
- 22:04as we're trying to induce a response.
- 22:08The treatment typically consists
- 22:09of a combination of three
- 22:11or four drugs and the determination
- 22:14of how many drugs and which drugs
- 22:16are often based on a few different
- 22:19patient specific factors in addition
- 22:21to disease specific factors.
- 22:24And so when we talk
- 22:25about patient specific factors,
- 22:26we really look at a patient and ask
- 22:30the question, how well do we think
- 22:32this individual could tolerate the treatment?
- 22:35What is their fitness?
- 22:38We don't necessarily look at
- 22:40age but kind of the overall person.
- 22:43What are their other medical problems,
- 22:45their comorbidities?
- 22:46What medications are they taking?
- 22:50Do they have heart dysfunction
- 22:51at baseline?
- 22:52Do they already have a neuropathy
- 22:54that's pretty severe?
- 22:55And then we look at the myeloma itself,
- 22:59meaning for every bone marrow
- 23:01biopsy that we do,
- 23:02we also send a study called cytogenetics
- 23:05and that is the study of
- 23:07chromosomes within that plasma cell.
- 23:09So we're really looking to see
- 23:11if there is any rearrangements.
- 23:13Additions, deletions,
- 23:14breaks and by utilizing these
- 23:18cytogenetic testing,
- 23:19we determine if someone is considered
- 23:21high risk or standard risk and that
- 23:24influences which treatment we give.
- 23:27And so what is the difference
- 23:29between a high risk and a standard
- 23:32risk patient in terms of treatment?
- 23:34I mean is it more drugs?
- 23:35Is it more duration?
- 23:38Is it more toxic?
- 23:40Yeah, so it's not necessarily
- 23:41more drugs. Fortunately,
- 23:43in multiple myeloma most of our drugs
- 23:46are very targeted to the plasma cell,
- 23:49but it may just be a
- 23:51different type of drug.
- 23:52So it may consist of four
- 23:55drugs versus a 3 drug regimen.
- 23:58You know there's still a lot
- 24:00of research being done to see
- 24:02what is truly the best regimen
- 24:04for high risk individuals,
- 24:05and there's a lot of different
- 24:07opinions out there,
- 24:08but it's usually going to be
- 24:09a four or three drug regimen
- 24:11with potentially one difference
- 24:12in one of the medications.
- 24:15And as we think about
- 24:18multiple myeloma and how you treat it,
- 24:21it seems to me that
- 24:24part of this has to do with how advanced
- 24:27the myeloma is in terms of how much of
- 24:30the bone marrow is actually involved,
- 24:33whether there's end organ damage,
- 24:35health, how fit the patient is, and so on.
- 24:38All of which makes me wonder about
- 24:42how important it is to get to a doctor
- 24:46as soon as you have those symptoms,
- 24:47how important it is to come to
- 24:51get diagnosed early versus late?
- 24:53I mean certainly that's something
- 24:54we talk about in a lot of cancers,
- 24:57but it sounds like in multiple myeloma
- 24:59there's really no real screening tests.
- 25:02No recommendations for annual blood work,
- 25:04for example.
- 25:05So does that really play a role?
- 25:07Or does it not matter as much?
- 25:10Yeah, so in multiple myeloma
- 25:13as in a lot of the hematological
- 25:15malignancies
- 25:16we don't stage it as we do our
- 25:22solid tumors and
- 25:25we don't talk about metastasis and
- 25:27so really the amount of bone marrow
- 25:30involvement doesn't play a role in what
- 25:33we decide to do for upfront treatments.
- 25:37So our staging is really based
- 25:38on blood work and we
- 25:40will often treat someone who is
- 25:42say a stage one versus stage three,
- 25:45very similarly because we have very
- 25:47effective drugs in the first line setting.
- 25:50But obviously we would want
- 25:52to seek medical attention
- 25:53if you had any symptoms,
- 25:55because say you present with kidney
- 25:58dysfunction, renal failure that
- 26:00does limit some of the treatments
- 26:02that we could give up front.
- 26:05And obviously if you start to have bone pain,
- 26:07you want to seek medical attention
- 26:09because you wouldn't want to end
- 26:11up with a pathological fracture.
- 26:13So we do encourage people if
- 26:14they have any symptoms to really
- 26:17seek medical attention.
- 26:20And the sooner you are diagnosed,
- 26:22the potentially more treatment options
- 26:23you have and the better shape you
- 26:26will be in to tolerate treatment.
- 26:28The other thing that you mentioned,
- 26:30which I think is something that
- 26:32it's important that we pick up on,
- 26:33is that you said that the
- 26:35treatments now are very effective.
- 26:37So tell us a little bit about
- 26:39prognosis of patients who are
- 26:41treated with multiple myeloma.
- 26:43Fortunately we have keep
- 26:46moving our overall survival and
- 26:49the percent surviving at five
- 26:52years each year thanks to the
- 26:54development of newer treatments.
- 26:56And so it used to be,
- 26:59several years ago, say in 2005,
- 27:01if we were giving this talk,
- 27:03we would talk about an overall
- 27:05survival of two to five years
- 27:11and so more recently we say
- 27:13five to 10 years and we're now
- 27:15talking about potentially
- 27:17moving that to 10 to 15 years.
- 27:19If you look at the most recent
- 27:21data in the United States regarding
- 27:23the percentage of patients that
- 27:25are alive at five years,
- 27:27it's about just over 55%.
- 27:30So, very encouraging.
- 27:32That's really great, and I guess
- 27:34that leads me to my next question,
- 27:36which is what are the exciting
- 27:38advances that are going on in
- 27:40terms of multiple myeloma research.
- 27:42How are you and others trying to move
- 27:45the ball even further down the field?
- 27:48That's a great question.
- 27:49There is so much exciting research
- 27:51being done here at Yale and within
- 27:53the field of multiple myeloma.
- 27:55And really at all stages.
- 27:59Right now we often will refer to multiple myeloma
- 28:02as a cancer that is treatable
- 28:05but not curable.
- 28:07So we're currently looking at
- 28:08ways to improve that frontline
- 28:10therapy maintenance therapy,
- 28:12in individuals who have relapsed refractory.
- 28:16The most exciting things are
- 28:17probably the development of CAR T
- 28:19which recently gained FDA approval
- 28:21and in addition to looking at the
- 28:23biospecific antibodies which are
- 28:25currently in clinical trial.
- 28:28Doctor Terri Parker is an assistant
- 28:30professor of medicine and hematology
- 28:32at the Yale School of Medicine. If
- 28:34you have questions, the address is
- 28:36cancer answers at yale dot edu
- 28:39and past editions of the program are
- 28:41available in audio and written form at
- 28:44yalecancercenter.org.
- 28:44We hope you'll join us next week to
- 28:46learn more about the fight against
- 28:48cancer here on Connecticut Public
- 28:50radio funding for Yale Cancer
- 28:52Answers is provided by Smilow Cancer
- 28:54Hospital and AstraZeneca.