Author: Beth

I was diagnosed with MM in January of 2003. I underwent various treatments, including thalidomide/dex, revlimid/dex, dex alone, a clinical trial of CNTO 328, and Velcade, Doxil and dex until late August, 2007, when I had an autologous stem cell transplant after high dose melphalan. I experienced what's known as a very good partial response (VGPR). Since then, my myeloma has been stable.

Press Release from Mayo Clinic

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Mayo researchers isolate compound that obstructs cell growth in multiple myeloma and other cancers fueled by certain proteins
Extract of coconut shrinks tumors by killing cancer cells

Friday, May 09, 2008

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A natural compound extracted from the milk of coconuts has proven effective in curbing the uncontrolled growth of certain cancer tumors, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic.

A recently published study by Drs. A. Keith Stewart and Rodger E. Tiedemann of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center indicates that a substance called kinetin riboside, prevents new cell growth in tumors controlled by cyclin D proteins. (Cyclin D proteins are members of the cyclin family of proteins related to cell division.) Kinetin riboside is found in minute quantities in coconut milk and other natural plants and is related to the hormones that govern root growth in plants.

The results of the study were published in the May 1, 2008, issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The journal is published by the American Society for Clinical Investigation, founded in 1908 to recognize important advances in medical research. “Cyclin D is like the gas pedal for cell progression,” Stewart said. “In cancer cells, too much cyclin is produced and overwhelms the cell, causing it to grow too quickly. Kinetin riboside appears to switch that process off.”

Three closely related proteins called cyclin D1, D2 and D3 are found in all proliferating cell types and collectively control the progression of cells through their cell cycle. Since D-cyclin proteins are essential to cell division, they are implicated in certain types of cancer.

After screening more than 4,000 drugs and natural compounds for their ability to control cyclin, the study narrowed the possibilities to about 30. Eventually, Stewart and Tiedemann focused on only one—kinetin riboside—as a way to control the cyclin D proteins.

Kinetin riboside works by rapidly binding itself to the cyclin gene and switching off the normal progression of cell division. Laboratory tests on mice demonstrated some cancer cells died as a result of the process, causing tumors to shrink in size. Healthy body cells remained unaffected.

The Mayo study focused on cells found in multiple myeloma tumors, but Cyclin D1 and D2 is important in the progression of many other cancers, including breast, prostate, colon, parathyroid adenoma, certain lymphomas and melanoma.

“Kinetin riboside not only stops myeloma cells from growing, it kills large numbers of the tumor cells as well,” Tiedemann says. “Its effectiveness in controlling cyclin holds the promise of a therapy for a number of different cancers.”

The researchers are now focusing on developing modified versions of the compound that offer the same benefits but possess specific characteristics that make it more desirable for the development of clinical drugs.

More than 60,000 Americans have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. An estimated 15,000 new cases are reported each year and it accounts for a disproportionate 2 percent of all cancer deaths. The research was partially funded by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

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Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is one of only 39 U.S. medical centers that have been named as a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center. To receive this designation, an institution must meet rigorous standards demonstrating scientific excellence and the ability to integrate diverse research approaches to address the problem of cancer. Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is the only national, multi-site center with the NCI’s Comprehensive Cancer Center designation. In Arizona, Mayo’s clinical and research experts work together to address the complex needs of cancer patients, with a dedication to understanding the biology of cancer; discovering new ways to predict, prevent, diagnose and treat cancer; and transforming the quality of life for cancer patients today and in the future.

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To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.

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Google Home Search

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I have an idea for Google!  How about Google Home Search?  When I’m looking for something in the house, it would be great if I could type in my query and Google would find it for me. If the item can’t be found, Google could suggest an alternative.

Question: Where’s the TV remote?

Google: The item you searched for could not be found. Perhaps you should go for a bike ride instead.

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This is why

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Last weekend was our local “Relay for Life” event, which I attended. My nephew, who is almost seven years old, went along with me. He walked with me for the survivors’ lap, which starts the relay. As the survivors pass by, the team members and other spectators usually give a big round of applause. My nephew said he was embarrassed by this and asked why everyone was clapping. I asked him if he knows what cancer is, and he said he did. I explained that everyone he saw walking was a cancer survivor and that people were applauding because we had all been successful in fighting our cancers. He asked, “can it kill you?” I said that it can, and his response was, “I don’t want it to kill you… because I love you.”

This is why we have chemo, take dex and all the other stuff we have do to stay here.

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Chronic Graft vs. Host Disease Web cast

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I just got this via email.

The National Bone Marrow Transplant Link is working with Dr. Steven Pavletic and his staff at the National Institutes of Health to develop a web cast on Coping with Chronic Graft vs. Host Disease.  The 30-minute presentation will provide an overview of cGVHD, recommendations for care of the cGVHD patient, and personal reflections from current cGVHD patients and their caregivers. The web cast will be launched on our web site, www.nbmtlink.org late this summer. We are grateful to the National Marrow Donor Program for supporting this product

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Kidney cancer may be linked to multiple myeloma

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I just noticed this on Reuters and wanted to post it before I forgot about it.  I’ll comment later on and will be looking for the original article published in the medical journal.
Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:29pm EDT

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For the first time, researchers have evidence of an association between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, one that “cannot be explained by random incidence alone,” they say.

“I think general oncologists as well as myeloma and renal cancer physicians should be aware of this association,” Dr. Mohamad A. Hussein of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, noted in comments to Reuters Health.

Renal cell carcinoma begins in the kidney cells and although it may progress slowly, it is very resistance to chemotherapy. Multiple myeloma, which may also progress slowly, is likewise resistant to treatment. It begins in the blood’s plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that is part of the immune system. Over time, myeloma cells build up in bone marrow and then in the solid parts of bone.

In a review of data from patients referred to the Cleveland Clinic between 1990 and 2005, Hussein and colleagues identified 1,100 patients with multiple myeloma, 2,704 with renal cell carcinoma, and 8 with both types of cancer.

In 4 of the 8 patients, renal cell carcinoma was diagnosed 3 to 46 months after the multiple myeloma diagnosis. In the remaining 4, renal cell carcinoma was diagnosed 1 to 108 months before the multiple myeloma. Seven of the 8 patients were first diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma on the right side.

“The probability of this association was much higher than that expected in the general population,” the researchers note in the medical journal BJU International. “No clear treatment-related, environmental, genetic or immune-mediated common factors can fully explain this association.”

The investigators point out that interleukin-6 supports the growth and expansion of both types of cancer. Interleukin-6 is a “cytokine” that normally enhances the body’s immune response to disease and infection.

“I think the take-home message,” Hussein said, “is that after active therapy for myeloma, if the kidney lesion does not clear — especially if it is affecting the right kidney — renal cell cancer should be considered.”

In this study, when myeloma was the first malignancy diagnosed, “the renal cell carcinoma was at a very early stage and therefore surgical exploration is critical.”

SOURCE: BJU International, March 2008.

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