All- this post came from the mma list from Carole-  While this study is certainly great news, I can't help but think that the average life expectacy would be greater still with the addition of bacis complementary therapies, supplementation like curcumin and other therapies discussed on this list.

"Just came across this study in the Journal Blood that confirms what many have suspected, that is, in recent years there has been improvement in overall survival. According to the study below, the newer drugs (Thal, Revlimid, and Velcade) show a longer survival time than what patients could expect in the past.

This is good news - we are moving in the right direction, but we still need to do more to hold this disease at bay for much longer periods. I believe it is coming. I just hope the researchers hurry."

Carole

Info provided under fair use guidelines:

Improved survival in multiple myeloma and the impact of novel therapies
Shaji K Kumar*, S. Vincent Rajkumar, Angela Dispenzieri, Martha Q. Lacy, Suzanne R Hayman, Francis K Buadi, Steven R Zeldenrust, David Dingli, Stephen J Russell, John A. Lust, Philip R Greipp, Robert A Kyle, and Morie A Gertz
Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

* Corresponding author; email: kumar.shaji@mayo.edu.

Treatments for myeloma have expanded in the last decade, but it is not clear if the introduction of novel therapies and the increased use of high dose therapy have translated into better outcome for patients with myeloma. We examined the outcome of two groups of patients seen at a single institution, one from time of diagnosis and the other from the time of relapse, to examine the survival trends over time. Among 387 patients relapsing after stem cell transplant, a clear improvement in overall survival from the time of relapse was seen, with those relapsing after 2000 having a median overall survival of 23.9 vs. 11.8 months (P<0.001) for those who relapsed prior to this date. This improvement was independent of other prognostic factors. Patients treated with one or more of the newer drugs (thalidomide, lenalidomide, bortezomib) had longer survival from relapse (30.9 vs. 14.8 months; P<0.001). In a larger group of 2981 patients with newly diagnosed myeloma, those diagnosed in
the la
st decade had a 50% improvement in overall survival (44.8 vs. 29.9 months; P<0.001). In this study, we demonstrate improved outcome of patients with myeloma in recent years, both in the relapsed setting as well as at diagnosis.