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Multiple myeloma patient hopeful for cure
Doctors diagnosed Myron Gill with multiple myeloma more than 20 years ago. He has faith that researchers at IU will develop a cure.
Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer, specifically a cancer of the plasma cells. Plasma cells are a type of immune cell that make antibodies to fight disease and infection. Multiple myeloma causes genetic changes to your immune cells that transform them from healthy cells into malignant (cancerous) myeloma cells. These cancerous cells typically bind to a person’s bone marrow and can cause bone pain. Multiple myeloma is a progressive disease, meaning it worsens over time. Other common symptoms of multiple myeloma include: fatigue, bone fracture, susceptibility to infection, and kidney failure.
Indiana Myeloma Registry
The IU Precision Health Initiative’s multiple myeloma research team recently opened the Indiana Multiple Myeloma Registry, which is currently enrolling 1,000 multiple myeloma patients across Indiana who are willing to donate bio specimens, such as blood and saliva, and complete a questionnaire. The goal of the study is to evaluate patients’ clinical, genomic and environmental data to advance clinical trials aimed at developing what could eventually be considered a cure.
Screening Bariatric Surgery Patients for MGUS
Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval has also been secured for a clinical study aimed at screening patients awaiting bariatric surgery for the presence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a protein known to progress to multiple myeloma in certain cases. This study will investigate the incidence of MGUS in an obese population to see whether weight loss following weight-reduction surgery has an effect on the protein. This study will contribute to knowledge about MGUS and the prevention of multiple myeloma.
Racial Disparities in the Incidence and Outcome of Multiple Myeloma in Indiana
The research team is integrating existing data from the Indiana State Cancer Registry with data from the SAVI Community Information System to determine how race, geography, and social determinants of health impact treatment and outcome of multiple myeloma patients across the state of Indiana.
Indiana Health
Multiple Myeloma is a priority issue for precision health research, as it’s an area of medicine that impacts Indiana Health. Download an incidence map to see volume of multiple myeloma by Indiana county.
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Multiple myeloma research at IU School of Medicine
Researchers at IU School of Medicine are studying ways to prevent a rare form of cancer, multiple myeloma, in bariatric weight loss patients through research studies on the Indianapolis campus.
Treatment for Late-Stage Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
IU School of Medicine was recently selected as a participating site in a Phase III clinical trial of CAR T-cell therapy versus a monoclonal antibody in late-stage relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients. Clinical trials such as this seek to identify the most effective therapies and potential cures available.
Team Leadership
The multiple myeloma team is led by IU School of Medicine’s Rafat Abonour, MD.
Multiple Myeloma Podcast
IU School of Medicine’s Rafat Abonour, MD, talks about multiple myeloma, current treatments, and hope on the horizon for multiple myeloma in the form of clinical studies. The podcast is hosted by IU School of Medicine faculty member and New York Times contributor Aaron Carroll, MD.