Mar 27, 2018
In this interview, Dr David Henry, the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Community and Supportive Oncology, and Dr Ken Anderson, the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an international thought leader and investigator in myeloma, discuss three cases of patients with myeloma that are indicative of the remarkable therapeutic advances in oncology in general, and in myeloma in particular. In the last 10-15 years, numerous approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration have transformed the treatment landscape for multiple myeloma by providing patients and oncologists with many new options and combination possibilities for treating the disease. And since many of the agents have been tested in advanced myeloma, their use has edged the disease toward initial management. The encouraging news is that in the new classes of drugs, and especially the second-generation drugs, response rates, progression-free disease, and overall survival are significantly better, with some combinations yielding response rates of up to 70%-80%, and overall and progression-free survival of up to 10 years.