Recently Diagnosed or Relapsed? Stop Looking For a Miracle Cure, and Use Evidence-Based Therapies To Enhance Your Treatment and Prolong Your Remission
Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
Click the orange button to the right to learn more about what you can start doing today.
“There appears to be no benefit from using denosumab instead of zoledronic acid in terms of overall survival or skeletal events.”
Hi David. What exactly is ANP? Does it work for multiple myeloma? Is this a combination of meds and how and why do meds work? Does it include dietary issues and life style changes as well. How often did you get your treatment and what was the expense? How do you contact these people and what are their qualifications?
I was diagnosed with Kappa myeloma in March 2014 and meds were stopped in June 2016 when I was diagnosed with cryptoccal pneumonia.
I get restaged annually and have been in complete remission up until March 2019 restaging which showed bone lesions.
Xgiva was started about 1 month ago. However peripheral blood and bone marrow are still normal. With normal CBC, no monoclonal spike and normal kappa light chains until most recently (slightly elevated).
I think my cryptoccal infection “revved” up my immune system and was able to impact my myeloma. However I’m convinced that probably within the next year treatment will be started again” Matt
Hi Matt,
I will excerpt and reply to your questions below.
1) “What exactly is ANP? Is this a combination of meds and how and why do meds work?”
ANP stands for “antineoplaston therapy.” ANP, according to the Wikipedia page for Burzynski “Antineoplaston is Burzynski’s term for a group of urine-derived peptides, peptide derivatives, and mixtures that Burzynski named to use in his “cancer treatment.”
I can’t explain to you how they “work.”
2) “Is this a combination of meds and how and why do meds work?”
My understanding is that currently, the BRI does more than prescribe ANP to the cancer patients that come to the clinic. I have read that the BRI may prescribe chemotherapy regimens other than ANP. When I went to the BRI in 11/97-4/99, the BRI prescribed only ANP.
3) “Does it include dietary issues and life style changes as well?”
I don’t believe that treatment at the BRI includes dietary and life style changes.
4) “How often did you get your treatment and what was the expense??”
I lived in Cleveland and traveled to the clinic in Houston once a months. The expenses are complicated. Bottom line is I paid the BRI just about the same as what my autologous stem cell transplant cost. Both were experimental therapies. The procedure that didn’t work was covered by my health insurance. The therapy that put me into complete remission was out-of-pocket…
5) “How do you contact these people and what are their qualifications?”
The first step is simply a phone call to the BRI. You will then go to the clinic to undergo diagnostic testing like you would at other hospitals such as MDA. When I was at the BRI, there were about 20 board certified oncologists that each had a patient load.
6) “I was diagnosed with Kappa myeloma in March 2014 and meds were stopped in June 2016 when I was diagnosed with cryptoccal pneumonia.”
I am sorry to read of your MM diagnosis. My guess is that your induction chemotherapy regimen caused myelosuppression (especially your white blood cells to drop) causing or increasing your susceptibility to cryptoccal pneumonia. Pneumonia is the leading cause of death of MM patients and survivors according to research.
7) “I get restaged annually and have been in complete remission up until March 2019 restaging which showed bone lesions.”
A 3-5 year treatment-relapse is pretty good. You are already beyond the average MM five-year life expectancy.
8) “Xgiva was started about 1 month ago.”
Xgeva (Denosumab) is an FDA approved therapy to reduce the risk of bone damage. The cost is justified if the patient has kidney damage- xgeva does not cause kidney damage the way that bisphoshonate therapy can.
9) “However peripheral blood and bone marrow are still normal. With normal CBC, no monoclonal spike and normal kappa light chains until most recently (slightly elevated).”
It sounds like you are still in remission but yes, as you point out, you may need more chemotherapy soon- hopefully to go back into remission again.
My suggestion Matt, would be for you to undergo low-dose therapy, either revlimid or velcade, if and when you undergo more chemotherapy. I say this for several reasons.
First, since you reacted dramatically to chemo the first time, low-dose therapy may be easier this time. My experience as a MM survivor and MM cancer coach is that lower dose chemo will cause fewer side effects.
Secondly, by undergoing low-dose chemo, you will postpone the inevitable MDR aka multi-drug resistance.
And lastly, both revlimid and velcade have been shown to integrate or synergize with several different non-toxic supplements.
“The Burzynski Clinic is a controversial clinic offering an unproven cancer treatment. It was founded in 1976 and is located in Texas, United States. It is best known for the controversial “antineoplaston therapy” devised by the clinic’s founder Stanislaw Burzynski in the 1970s.
Antineoplaston is Burzynski’s term for a group of urine-derived peptides, peptide derivatives, and mixtures that Burzynski named to use in his “cancer treatment”. There is no accepted scientific evidence of benefit from antineoplaston combinations for various diseases…”
“In an era of financial challenges for healthcare, we, as physicians, must be careful stewards of finite healthcare resources. There appears to be no benefit from using denosumab instead of zoledronic acid in terms of overall survival or skeletal events.
In addition, the safety profile is very similar. There appears to be slightly more renal toxicity with zoledronic acid; however, this is balanced by the higher rates of hypocalcemia with denosumab.
Although there was a demonstration of benefit in terms of progression-free survival, this finding should be treated with caution, as it emerged from a post hoc exploratory analysis.
There are, however, significant differences in costs – both to society and to patients. Denosumab costs approximately $24,000 more per patient per year in the USA.
Zoledronic acid is also considerably cheaper than denosumab in Europe as well. Perhaps the most appropriate management would be for all patients to receive zoledronic acid, except those with a contraindication due to a low creatinine clearance…”
The issue of MM and ANP is complicated. I encourage you to read the post below. I will list the expenses as well but again, there are many issues to consider.
