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Kimberly
When my husband, NFL linebacker Elijah, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2005, shortly after retiring from the Oakland Raiders, we were stunned. Neither of us had ever heard of it.
Life with multiple myeloma became an instant roller coaster. As his caregiver I knew it was my job to learn as much as possible about what we were facing, while trying to keep things normal for our two young sons.
Targeting HSP70 to Immune Effector Cells to Overcome the Immune Suppressive Myeloma Microenvironment
Development of a strong anti-cancer immune response requires coordinated action of the innate and adaptive parts of the immune system, but cancer cells alter their environment to suppress virtually every step in this process, which promotes cancer progression and treatment resistance. One promising strategy could be to target Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), which plays an important role in both innate and adaptive immunity, and we therefore developed a series of novel antibodies to HSP70, one of which cured mice of multiple myeloma.
Julie
“About six years………”
The doctor kept speaking but the words evaporated into thin air as Julie quickly did mental math to figure out what ages her children would be when she died. Flashes of all the events she would miss flitted across her mind. Julie had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
Bryon
In 2017, during a pickup basketball game at the local gym, Bryon Daily was beginning to feel his age, playing against 20-year-olds. A former college track athlete in his early 50s, this fatigue felt different. He also fractured his finger during a routine pass in the game. Bryon’s primary doctor at Kaiser ordered labs including blood and urine, that showed impairment in his protein levels and referred him to a urologist then a hematologist.
Kelvin
I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in February 2014. My journey with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) began one year later when I signed up to participate in my first-ever Light The Night Walk and put together a fundraising team.
The event was amazing and all my family and friends were there to show support. When the blood cancer survivors moved to the middle of the survivor circle to light up their lanterns, it was one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever experienced.
Andy
Meet Andy. Multiple Myeloma Survivor. Lawyer. Andy lost his first wife to multiple myeloma. Incredibly, twelve years later, Andy himself was struck by the same disease. Today, thanks in part to his treatment involving stem cell transplantation, he is living a richer, fuller life in ways that are hard to imagine.
Dissecting the biology and exploiting the dependency of myeloma cells on P300/CBP
In recent work of our collaborating labs, the protein acetyltransferases P300 and CBP emerged as potent and preferential dependencies for multiple myeloma (MM) based on genetic depletion, catalytic inhibition or chemical degradation studies. Our current project will define distinct vs. redundant molecular and biological functions of P300/CBP in MM, identify the mechanisms of resistance to their inhibition/degradation and exploit these findings to develop new therapeutic modalities to treat MM.
Manual
Since being diagnosed with myeloma, I've been glad to have the assistance of LLS. For one thing, research they helped fund resulted in Velcade®, one of the drugs I'm being treated with. For another, their financial assistance program has come in very handy during my illness. Thank goodness for LLS. Manual Tapia | Multiple Myeloma Survivor You can tell just by looking at him that Manuel has a positive outlook. It has served him well since his diagnosis with multiple myeloma.
Functional dissection of heterogeneity of responses to CAR T cells using Spatiotemporal Image-guided Genomic and Cellular Analysis (SaGA) in myeloma
Despite remarkable progress in the last 20 years, multiple myeloma remains an incurable disease. In recent years, 2 CAR T cell products that target BCMA on the myeloma cell have been approved. These products result in remarkable initial responses however the duration of these responses has been disappointing. In this proposal, we will take a novel approach to isolate and characterize myeloma cells that interact with CAR T cells but are not killed by them as a potential resistance mechanism.Developing selective inhibitors of the b-catenin/BCL9 transcriptional complex for myeloma therapy
The b-catenin/BCL9 transcriptional complex, is a novel dependency in multiple myeloma (MM). Disruption of this complex inhibits MM cell growth in culture and in MM xenograft models. Development of potent selective b-catenin/BCL9 inhibitors will provide valuable tools to further investigate their mechanism of MM inhibition. We have established a chemistry, structural biology, and molecular pathology platform to facilitate novel inhibitor development, and explore its translational potential in MM.
4 Perspectives on How Nonprofits Help
If you want to change the world, there’s more than one way to do it. You could start in your community, helping friends and neighbors. You could also turn to a nonprofit organization—as a volunteer, donor, advocate, or even by joining the staff—to widen your impact.
We know a lot of changemakers at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Passionate, amazing people who work hard to help us make life better for blood cancer patients, survivors, and their families. They know that we can make the most progress toward a world without blood cancer together.
Sharon
Sharon Clark was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 after experiencing unusual symptoms like aches and fatigue. Her treatment has included multiple courses of oral anti-cancer medication, countless injections, infusions and hospitalizations, a stem cell transplant and two spinal surgeries to repair cracked bones caused by the myeloma. She continues to be treated with an LLS-supported oral anti-cancer therapy to keep her cancer in remission.
Esther
In November 2011, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and received a stem cell transplant in April 2012. After recovery, I continued medical care with my local oncologist.
In the summer of 2014, my lab results caused concern. After two bone marrow biopsies, I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in January 2015. My doctor was shocked. The plan of treatment was chemotherapy and eventually a bone marrow transplant. Due to complications from chemotherapy treatment, the bone marrow transplant was off the table.
Refractory and Relapsed
Almost all myeloma patients will experience relapse (the cancer returns after a successful course of treatment) and/or the disease will become refractory (the cancer does not respond to treatment). The choice of a treatment regimen at relapse is affected by many factors including previous therapy, rate of relapse, patient health, and genetic abnormalities.
Paula
In the 1990’s, I was diagnosed with benign monoclonal gammopathy. In April 2013, I was experiencing severe back pain that lead me to the ER. The results of the x-rays lead me to seek medical treatment from a hematologist/oncologist. The bone marrow biopsy result confirmed multiple myeloma.
Shandra
I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) two years ago. I had never heard of this cancer until I was diagnosed. I found out I had cancer when my T2 vertebra had fractured in my back, and they called the fracture a pathological fracture, meaning an injury didn’t cause it. Every test was run, and it was confirmed that I had cancer. Still in denial, I wanted a second opinion. A second opinion was done, and I had to accept it because I have children ages 19, 10, and 6. I wanted to be here with them as long as possible.
Tina
My husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) last year, and I saw this and thought it would be a nice fundraiser to help in the journey for research and to help with finding cures for these cancers.
Tommy
My name is Tommy Cummings, and I have been a survivor for 18 years now with multiple myeloma and thank God and LLS for the help they do for all of us who rely on them for help in battling this disease.
Nancy
I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008. For a year, I was in the “watch and wait” category with no treatment until the disease progressed. In April 2009 I progressed to “active disease” and began treatments followed by an autologous stem cell transplant in January 2010.
Paul
My husband's story began in July 2018, when he suddenly became ill. I rushed him to the ER. The shocking diagnosis, multiple myeloma. Three weeks prior to his hospitalization he had a physical with blood work, all was normal.
Sandra
I'm a survivor of multiple myeloma and MDS. Now I just want to raise awareness for the cause its seriousness.
Having both these diseases is tough, but I'm trying to take it all in and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society offers wonderful support.
Jane
In 2008, I retired from teaching art, mostly because I was feeling tired all the time and didn’t want the program I was running to suffer because I couldn’t keep up. I figured it was old age. I was enjoying my first full year of retirement when I woke up with a backache. After two months of tests, in July 2010, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a treatable but not yet curable blood cancer in the plasma cells of the bone marrow.
Suzanne
My mother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) in February 1987. She passed away in December 1997. I was diagnosed with MM in February 2017. My diagnosis was not only a surprise but daunting because I was my mother’s caregiver and experienced what she faced battling this disease. I’m currently undergoing treatment with the bispecific drug Teclistamab with success. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has provided me with educational and financial assistance, so I greatly appreciate this organization.