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The PROMISE study (NCT03689595) is a national screening study from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute led by Dr Irene Ghobrial and funded by Stand Up To Cancer. The goal of the PROMISE study is to establish the first screen-detected cohort of patients with multiple myeloma precursor conditions in order to identify novel regulators of disease progression and therapeutic options. The PROMISE Study will also help to define the prevalence of MGUS/SMM in at-risk populations.

Early detection of MGUS is vital to reducing myeloma incidence

In this video, you will hear from the Program Director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Dr Ken Anderson, Dr Robert Kyle, the distinguished hematologist who coined the term “MGUS”, from the Mayo Clinic, and Dr Irene Ghobrial, the Principal Investigator of the PROMISE study from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

 

In an interview at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2018 Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, CA, Dr Ghobrial explains how

“This is very important, we screen for other cancers; mammography for breast cancer, colonoscopy for colon cancer. Yet we don’t do just one blood test to see if patients have a blood cancer or not, and this will change with the PROMISE study.”

Annie Cowan, BA, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, outlines the premise of the screening program during an interview with VJHemOnc at the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) 2019, held in Boston, MA:

“A normal person, at the ages of 50 to 75 is going to be at around a 3% risk of developing these precursor conditions.

Someone who has a first-degree relative; a parent, a child or sibling who has multiple myeloma, or another plasma cell dyscrasia has a 3x higher chance, so about a 6 to 9% chance.

We’re also screening African-Americans, or individuals of who identify as being of African descent, because they are also at a heightened risk of developing these diseases.”

 

The PROMISE Study has the following eligibility requirements:

 Participants must be between the ages of 40 and 75,

 Have a first degree relative with MM or a precursor condition to MM

OR

 Self-identify as being of African descent, and not currently under treatment for MM or a precursor condition.

 

An individual who qualifies for the PROMISE study enrolls, consents, and completes all steps of the study online at: 

➜ www.enroll.promisestudy.org.

Following online registration, the participant receives a blood draw kit in the mail which can be brought to a Quest Diagnostics clinic in their area.

 

Clinical process

✉  Mailing of blood drawing kit

💉  Drawing of blood in the clinic

🔬  One tube sent to Mayo Clinic for medical testing, two sent to Harvard for continued research

🏥  Clinical consultation and advice

How can you help this important project?

Ask the PROMISE study to send brochures to your clinic by contacting the team at [email protected] or 617-582-8544

Recommend that patient family members visit the PROMISE study website at www.enroll.promisestudy.org