Revlimid Maintenance - Myeloma Chat - WELCOME! - Myeloma Chat & Online Support Group

Myeloma Chat & Online Support Group Home

You are not logged in - LOG IN | REGISTER

Myeloma Chat & Online Support Group > WELCOME! > Myeloma Chat > Revlimid Maintenance

Revlimid Maintenance

Questions about this chat? Send a message to: Chat Moderator

Post a New Comment

Author

Post

dot
Member

Joined:	Wed Jan 14th, 2009
Location:
Posts:	2
Status:	Offline

Posted: Thu Jan 15th, 2009 02:05 am

Quote

Hi .. I am 57 and was 55 when I was diagnosed with MM with cardiac and renal amyloids. I had a stem cell transplant in November of 2007 and I am in complete remission since then. My doctor recommends I begin Revlimid maintenance (5mg daily) ASAP. I went for a second opinion to another doctor and he disagrees. He states that if I take Revlimid now while I am in remission that it will not be as effective when/if the disease comes back (although the dosage would be 25mg when the disease is active). He states why put something toxic into my body when I have no signs of the disease now and he also feels the drug companies are pushing the revlimid on the medical community to make money (the drug is $8,000 per month).

Can anyone advise if Revlimid Maintenance has been recommended or not and what their choice/expereince was.

Huntsman -- can you advise what is the usual recommendation for someone in my situation. Does it really prolong the illness from coming back? Are there proven statistics to that fact?

Thank you very much !

wheatley2992
Member

Joined:	Fri May 9th, 2008
Location:
Posts:	13
Status:	Offline

Posted: Thu Jan 15th, 2009 12:53 pm

Quote

My wife is 55 yrs. old and is on maintenance. Because of her sub type of myeloma, translocation 4,14 the doctors have recommended maintenance. I have learned the there are many different approaches and it is difficult to decide. We decided to take the approach of the center we are dealing with as they will be dealing with my wife when the cancer comes back. I also believe the right food is just as important as drugs. Finding the center that you can trust is one of the keys. Hope you find this helpful.

Last edited on Thu Jan 15th, 2009 12:57 pm by wheatley2992

Chat Moderator
Administrator

Joined:	Tue Oct 9th, 2007
Location:	Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Posts:	112
Status:	Offline

Posted: Thu Jan 15th, 2009 05:01 pm

Quote

Hi dot,

I work for Huntsman Cancer Institute's Myeloma Program. If you were our patient, we would start you on a combination of revlimid and dexamethasone (with or without velcade) as maintenance immediately after transplantation. It will very likely prolong the duration of response. We would give you one full year of maintenance and then stop all treatment.

We have seen that giving a combination of drugs during maintenance therapy has yielded better results than giving only one of these drugs.

Maintenance therapy is very important. Myeloma cells are not easily destroyed and some will survive, even after high-dose chemotherapy. The chemotherapy only targets myeloma cells that are actively dividing and not the ones that are "sleeping," or out-of-cycle. So, we need to address that with maintenance therapy.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

DougC
Member

Joined:	Wed Dec 26th, 2007
Location:
Posts:	107
Status:	Offline

Posted: Sat Jan 17th, 2009 02:38 am

Quote

I'm on Revlimid maintenace in combination with Dex and Velcade. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. Isn't the idea to keep the beast from ever coming back? Not all people relapse. Do some research on MM treatment and maintenance. Read how maintenance treatment schemas impacted the other blood cancers. Finally, research the different schools of thought on why MM becomes resistant to certain drugs. Bottom line for me is, I would rather fight the beast while I have him down then wait until he regroups and comes back with blood in his eyes.

Current time is 04:22 pm