Multiple Myeloma: I now have 2 MO's... - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

22,373 members28,135 posts

Multiple Myeloma

mcp1941 profile image
27 Replies

I now have 2 MO's. PCa MO and MM MO. Just to refresh, I had my annual scans about 5 weeks ago to check for PCa mets. What was found was MM. Saw my MM MO yesterday and will start treatment on July 15th. i was floored by how much more complicated MM is than PCa. The number of different blood test was amazing. I start my 10 month treatment plan in 9 days.

thank everyone,

Mike P.

Written by
mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
27 Replies
CantChoose profile image
CantChoose

It seems like there is a relationship between these two cancers, although the literature mostly references MM first, followed by prostate. I hope you get some answers and support from your new MO.

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toCantChoose

I seen that relationship also. I was already DX with CLL about 15 years ago and never needed treatment for it. I am hoping treatment for MM also knocks out any remaining CLL cells.

CantChoose profile image
CantChoose in reply tomcp1941

I think the layman's answer is that the first cancer creates a hospitable environment, so the second cancer accepts the invitation and also takes up residence. The sobering part is how many men apparently have circulating prostate cells, like dandelion seeds just looking for fertile soil.

You are in uncharted territory. Sometimes people find treasure that way. Hope you are one of the lucky ones!

I did get a chuckle, thinking about your two high-powered MO personalities deciding which gets to call the shots :)

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toCantChoose

MM MO said that his treatment plan will not have any effect on any PCa treatment my PCa MO uses. but do I want to do 2 separate chemos at the same time. I think not! Will see this Wed. when I meet with PCa MO and get an update on treatment plan.

Mike P.

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13

Hi Mike,

I know quite a bit about MM because my wife has been treated for it since 2015.

She was diagnosed with a solitary plasmacytoma. Received radiation for that but a second solitary plasmacytoma appeared. Her oncologist lied (said there were several & that radiation wasn't an option) & insisted that she have stem cell replacement after Velcade. The stem cell team at Wake Forest told her she was crazy to consider it for a solitary plasmacytoma. (A 2.5% chance of death during the procedure.) & so she declined treatment.

For the past 15 months she has been on Revlimid (15 mg). Her new oncologist is less aggressive (my sister in England was on 25 mg.) In fact, he has just lowered her dose to 10 mg & stopped her Dexamethasone.

Neither Velcade nor Revlimid are curative, so why give a patient more than the minimum required to control the proteins? She tolerates low-dose Revlimid very well, but had a tough time with Velcade.

My sister has had more serious MM for over 10 years. Velcade has made a huge difference in survival rates. & Revlimid has turned out to be a miracle drug too.

But dealing with two cancers seems like such an unfair burden. I will be thinking of you.

Best, -Patrick

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply topjoshea13

I will get 23 infusions of Darzalex and also take Revlimid, Dexa and Zometa.

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply tomcp1941

Darzalex was not mentioned as an option to my wife. I will mention it to my sister. Thanks.

My wife had a problem with her 5th Zometa shot. She was switched to Xgeva (Denosumab), which is not a bisphosphonate, but is non-inferior. It has the same dental issue. One must delay serious dental work for three months while the drug is cleared. (Actually, the drug hangs around for a very long time.) After the dental work - when everything has healed - one must wait a furthur 3 months before resuming.

Both my sister & my wife had the same problem with Dexamathasone - sleeplessness on the night after taking it. Have a good book at hand. LOL. But you might be different.

Best, -Patrick

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply topjoshea13

I was aware of possibility of ONJ but not the clearing time. also will keep in mind about switching to Xgeva. Thanks for the tips.

Mike P.

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply tomcp1941

Mike,

Re: Zometa (Zoledronic Acid):

"Its high affinity to and long half-life in bone, and long duration of action, allow for once-yearly administration"

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/278...

Re: Xgeva (Denosumab):

"Because of its long half-life in the body, subcutaneous denosumab administrations every 6 months are sufficient to obtain inhibitory effects on bone resorption"

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/238...

-Patrick

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply tomcp1941

Mike,

One side effect of Revlimid that my wife & sister both had was itching. Drove them crazy but an antihistamine took care of that.

-Patrick

CantChoose profile image
CantChoose in reply topjoshea13

Patrick, this is probably an uninformed question, but do hormone treatments affect MM? Or is the mechanism totally different?

pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13 in reply toCantChoose

PCa hormone treatments target the androgen receptor [AR] either directly or be depriving AR of androgen. I don't believe there is conflict with MM treatments.

But could MM drugs work with PCa?

Mike will be on Revlimid [Lenalidomide]. From Wikipedia, below, "inhibition of angiogenesis" could be useful. In fact, there are 45 PubMed hits for: <prostate Lenalidomide> [2].

"Lenalidomide has been used to successfully treat both inflammatory disorders and cancers in the past 10 years. There are multiple mechanisms of action, and they can be simplified by organizing them as mechanisms of action in vitro and in vivo.[29] In vitro, lenalidomide has three main activities: direct anti-tumor effect, inhibition of angiogenesis, and immunomodulation. In vivo, lenalidomide induces tumor cell apoptosis directly and indirectly by inhibition of bone marrow stromal cell support, by anti-angiogenic and anti-osteoclastogenic effects, and by immunomodulatory activity. Lenalidomide has a broad range of activities that can be exploited to treat many hematologic and solid cancers.

On a molecular level, lenalidomide has been shown to interact with the ubiquitin E3 ligase cereblon[30] and target this enzyme to degrade the Ikaros transcription factors IKZF1 and IKZF3.[31] This mechanism was unexpected as it suggests that the major action of lenalidomide is to re-target the activity of an enzyme rather than block the activity of an enzyme or signaling process, and thereby represents a novel mode of drug action. A more specific implication of this mechanism is that the teratogenic and anti-neoplastic properties of lenalidomide, and perhaps other thalidomide derivatives, could be disassociated.] [1]

-Patrick

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenal...

[2] ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

Schwah profile image
Schwah

Damn. That’s not fair. Sorry my friend.

Schwah

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toSchwah

There is a lot of unfairness in this world and I just got my share. I have the attitude that you deal with it and move on.

CantChoose profile image
CantChoose in reply toSchwah

"Have you considered my servant Job?"

My husband and I are not religious, but we've both read that particular book of the Bible a few times.

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toCantChoose

job had far more to handle I do.

CantChoose profile image
CantChoose in reply tomcp1941

We lived in a house that was struck by lightning 3 times and had a car drive through the front window...

monte1111 profile image
monte1111 in reply toCantChoose

I shouldn't be laughing. Have you considered moving?

CantChoose profile image
CantChoose in reply tomonte1111

Oh, we definitely moved! I pounded the "For Sale" sign in myself.

The tree in our current house was hit last spring. ☁️⚡

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n in reply toCantChoose

I think your family should wear lighting rod underwear.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 07/07/2019 7:18 PM DST

Litlerny profile image
Litlerny

Best wishes to you, mcp. As if it isn’t difficult enough to deal with PCa, you have the challenge of fighting a two front war. Coincidentally, I was on the phone yesterday with a good friend from my boyhood days who just had a bone marrow transplant for MM done on 7/1. He’s now in the waiting period to see if it did the trick. Like Stage 4 PCa MM is currently incurable, but patients can have very long term remissions. My prayers will be with you today for a speedy recovery and a long remission on BOTH cancers. Hopefully, in our lifetime the evolution of treatment protocols for both PCa and MM will turn them both into chronic and manageable diseases. God bless you!

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toLitlerny

Thank you for your prayers. I was given 2 choice by my MM MO: 1) Pills only. 2) Pills and chemo. I choose #2. I want to hit MM hard and look for a long remission so I can concentrate on PCa treatment.

Mike P.

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n

Two words only 'HOLY SHIT'

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 07/07/2019 7:21 PM DST

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toj-o-h-n

I am taking this new challenge in stride but my wife is going off the deep end and driving me nuts!

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n in reply tomcp1941

Remember what you swore to:

"I take this woman to be my lawful wife, for Better or Worse and for Driving me nuts".

Keep on Keeping on!!!

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 07/08/2019 11:58 AM DST

mcp1941 profile image
mcp1941 in reply toj-o-h-n

we celebrated our 50th anniversary this past Dec. 7th. another day of infamy.

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n in reply tomcp1941

Congrats.... I guess it was a sneak attack on her part 😊. I hope you both can celebrate the 75th, I think the 100th is out of the question.

Keep on laughing....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 07/08/2019 12:08 PM DST

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Decision time for Multiple Myeloma

I have been fighting PC for 23 years and six months ago I was told I had MM. Had treatments for MM...
mcp1941 profile image

Successfully treated my Multiple Myeloma and now in remission from both MM and PCA

I successfully completed my induction cycles for treatment of my Multiple Myeloma. Mayo Clinic...
swwags profile image

In need of advise for my father

Hello everyone. My father was diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 PCa in another country (2017). He...

Suggestions for MO

Suggestions are welcome for the best MO who specialises in metastatic PCa across the US. It’s for...
Ayra1 profile image

Metastasis

Burnett1948.I know I'm labouring this point. But because I have had different advice from two...
Burnett1948 profile image

Moderation team

Bethishere profile image
BethishereAdministrator
Number6 profile image
Number6Administrator
Darryl profile image
DarrylPartner

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.