ecancertv talks to Eric Low at IMW 2013, Kyoto, Japan, 3-7th April

Myeloma UK is a registered charity and is the only organisation in the UK dealing exclusively with myeloma.

They are attending IMW 2013, among other major meetings to consolidate current understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) and to enable them to then translate this into clinical relevant information for both patients and clinicians.

The understanding of the genetics behind MM could help to stratify patients more appropriately to treatment in the future, and will provide insight in terms of disease progression and prognosis.

Although there is significant discussion of the latest imaging techniques, PET/CT and MRI, this are not being used routinely in clinical practice because of cost and access.

However, because adoption of new imaging techniques takes so long, there is a need to think about how these would be used in the future for the for the determination of stage of disease, response to therapy and prognosis in clinical practice.

The novel agents bortezomib, lenalidomide and thalidomide are all routinely used in clinical practice in the UK, and because MM is a very heterogeneous disease, the drug regimen is chosen to fit individual patient needs.

There has been much debate around to positioning of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in the management of MM; whether it should be used upfront or delayed until further in the disease lifecycle. In the UK, treatment in transplant eligible patients tends to be induction with a novel therapy based regimen, followed by ASCT, consolidation, and in some cases maintenance with thalidomide.

More about the charity here