Myeloma - Role of Stem Cell Transplant (ASCT)

Myeloma – Role of Stem Cell Transplant (ASCT)

Is an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant Right For You? Maybe, maybe not. Do Your Homework. You Will Live a Better, Longer Life

If you have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM). You are considering what multiple myeloma therapy will provide the best combination of length of life and quality of life. Your oncologist is encouraging you to have an autologous stem cell transplant understand that an ASCT may or may not be right for you right now.

First and foremost, if you are like most people, your goal is to cure your MM. Since your oncologist has told you that MM is incurable you have to wonder why your oncologist is referring to an ASCT as being “curative.” You must understand the difference between “Progression-Free Survival” and “Overall Survival.”

I wrote the E-book below to give a balanced view of autologous stem cell transplantation for MMers.

Consider your goal changing to reaching the longest, deepest remissions possible. You want to bet on a therapy plan that will get you the longest overall survival with the fewest short, long-term and late stage side effects aka the highest quality of life.

While the “standard of care”in MM is an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), you may or may not believe that an ASCT will get you the longest OS with the highest quality of life.

Remember that according to the American Cancer Society the average five year survival rate is 49% for MMers.

I am a long-term MM survivor and MM cancer coach. I went through an ASCT in December of 1995. I failed conventional therapies by 1997, underwent an alternative therapy, reached complete remission where I remain today. I live a non-toxic yet evidence-based anti-MM lifestyle including anti-MM supplementation, anti-MM nutrition, anti-cancer lifestyle therapies, bone health therapies and mind-body therapies.

Please watch the video below to learn more about the evidence-based, integrative therapies to combat treatment side effects and enhance your chemotherapy.

If you have questions about ASCT’s please fill out the form below with your stage and MM symptoms. Knowledge is Power. Especially in multiple myeloma.

Thanks,

David Emerson

MM Survivor
MM Cancer Coach
Director PeopleBeatingCancer

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Cure vs. Control in Multiple Myeloma

“Although not often openly acknowledged, “cure vs control” is the dominant philosophical difference behind many of the strategies, trials, and debates related to the management of myeloma. Should we treat patients with myeloma with multidrug, multitransplant combinations with the goal of potentially curing a subset of patients, recognizing that the risk of adverse events and effect on quality of life will be substantial?

Or should we address myeloma as a chronic incurable condition with the goal of disease control, using the least toxic regimens, emphasizing a balance between efficacy and quality of life, and reserving more aggressive therapy for later?”

Experts Disagree on Role of Transplant in Myeloma

“The trial has the potential to establish whether SCT adds benefit when combined with newer agents, but Dr. Berenson (Dr. James Berenson) is already impressed with the response rates with newer agents without SCT…

The treatment of multiple myeloma is no longer a 100-yard dash; it is a marathon,” said James R. Berenson, MD, the medical and scientific director of the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research in West Hollywood, Calif. According to Dr. Berenson, better-tolerated, newer drug therapies now produce response rates that rival those produced with SCT, while preserving future options when the cancer progresses.

“Patients need to be able to avail themselves of the opportunity to seek the newer therapies. Reducing that ability with too much prior treatment at too high of a dose is detrimental to their long-term outcomes, which not only includes their overall survival but their quality of life,” Dr. Berenson said…”

Multiple Myeloma – Survival Rate Statistics by Hospital

“You will find you are between 1.9 and 5.7 times more likely to die in 5 years at the average SEER facility(Statistics developed by the National Cancer Institute) than if under the care of one of these exceptional myeloma professionals or under the care of a doctor considered to be a myeloma specialist…”

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