It’s already “that most wonderful time of the year” . . . yes, the holidays, but with the holidays also comes ASH! If you live in the myeloma world, this is indeed a wonderful and hopeful time of year. It’s filled with the most brilliant researchers gathering to collaborate, learn, and share their most exciting work.
Personally, my heart grows a bit each year with increased anticipation, gratitude, and hope that what we hear and learn during these next few days will eventually bring us closer to cure, plus increased options with better Quality of Life, less toxicity, improved progression-free survival (PFS), longer overall survival (OS), and of course accessibility/affordability! Is my wish list too much? NO!
As a twenty-four-year care partner to my husband Michael, and with my work and friendships with patients and care partners across the U.S., it is not too much to ask. While our CoMMunity is fortunate and grateful for the incredible research that has already extended our lives, we must continue to push, to wish, to strive, and to accept nothing less.
Through the years, we have seen incredible interest and research in myeloma that has extended the average life expectancy from 3 years to over 10 years! We’ve had the fortunate opportunity to follow myeloma trials through the years, and then we went to Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) for their review and recommendation to the U.S . Federal Drug Administration (FDA). We’ve testified at ODAC from a patient and care partner perspective that we must continue to advance treatment availability once the data supports its efficacy.
This reminds me of the very recent turning point: the ODAC unanimously voted in favor of minimal residual disease (MRD) testing as an early endpoint in myeloma clinical trials to support accelerated approvals of new treatments. Yesterday, we attended the IMF’s I2TEAMM (The International Independent Team for Endpoint Approval of Myeloma Minimal Residual Disease) meeting and heard updates. When asked “What is the next step after ODAC with FDA?”, Dr. Nikhil Munchi (Dana-Farber Cancer Institue — Boston) said, “We will not be done until myeloma is cured, and we don’t have a long time to go, I think it will be soon.”
Yes , It’s a Wonderful Time of the Year!
Stay tuned for the Myeloma Voices Vlogs (video reporting/blogs) at ASH and follow us on X (Twitter) with the hashtags #ASH24 #IMFASH24 #mmsm for more Hope!
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