The results of the current study support curative intent approaches to secondary cancers among patients with myeloma while highlighting the need for ongoing active myeloma management.
FDA approved, standard-of-care multiple myeloma (MM) therapies such as radiation and/or chemotherapy regimens are referred to as treatment with “curative intent.” Unfortunately, this “curative intent” treatment can cause treatment-related secondary cancers.
This means that not only to MM survivors need to worry about a relapse of their original blood cancer, but they also need to keep an eye out for secondary cancers too.
I acknowledge that I am only one case and therefore not a representative sample. However I think my risk of secondary cancers is so great, having survived MM so long (since ’94), I have to believe I am doing something right. BTW, risk of secondary cancer is cumulative. Ask your oncologist.
In short, I live an anti-MM lifestyle through nutritional, supplementation, and non-conventional therapies such as whole-body hyperthermia. I began living this way years ago in an effort to avoid a relapse of my original cancer.
Having avoided a second cancer for so long now (I’m writing this post in 7/19) I have to wonder if my anti-cancer lifestyle is helping me avoid a secondary cancer in addition to a relapse of my MM?
Have you been diagnosed with MM? To learn more about anti-MM nutrition, supplementation and other evidence-based, lifestyle therapies, scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
Thank you,
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Recommended Reading:
“Background-Therapeutic advances have extended survival for patients with MM, who may develop secondary cancers.
Methods-Using the population‐based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry (2004‐2015), the authors examined the characteristics, overall and cause‐specific survival, and cumulative incidence function of cancer‐related death among patients with MM with secondary cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, colon/rectum, or bladder or melanoma. Each patient was matched based on age, sex, race, and year of diagnosis to 50 controls from a general population who were diagnosed with the index cancer.
Results- Patients with MM with breast, prostate, or lung cancer were more commonly diagnosed at an early stage, whereas the stage distribution did not differ significantly among patients with melanoma, colorectal cancer, or bladder cancer.
For all studied cancers except those of the lung, overall mortality was significantly higher among patients with MM compared with controls (hazard ratios, 1.84‐2.81).
However, the cumulative incidence function of cancer‐related death did not differ (subhazard ratios, 0.84‐0.99) and was surpassed by MM‐related deaths (23% to 35% at 5 years).
In patients with lung cancer, cancer‐related mortality was uniquely lower among patients with MM (subhazard ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.52‐0.68), even after adjustment for stage of disease. There was no significant difference noted with regard to noncancer deaths for any studied solid tumor. Use of surgery (evaluated in patients with nonmetastatic tumors, and in addition matched by disease stage) did not differ between cases and controls, except for fewer prostatectomies being noted among patients with MM (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.42‐0.74).
Conclusions-The results of the current study support curative treatment approaches to secondary cancers among patients with myeloma while highlighting the need for ongoing active myeloma management.
