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EMMA Vienna 2017 | The important issues to consider when deciding when a multiple myeloma patient must start treatment

Joan Bladé, MD, from the Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain, gives an overview of some of the main points raised during his discussion on treatment for relapsed myeloma patients at EMMA 2017. Firstly, there is the matter of the sub-group of patients that do not need immediate treatment and can be safely followed for more than two years with no treatment. He explains that identifying these patients is crucial. Another important point in the discussion was the importance of following-up with patients every few months once their therapy is finished. It is also very important to take into consideration how these follow-ups must be carried out and what tests need to be done during the follow up of treatment in patients with partial response, complete response and so on. He explains that during his session, there were a lot of questions about the issue of the oligoclonal bands. These are the bands that are associated with either complete remission, meaning good prognosis, or the bands that are associated with relapse. It is extremely important to be able to distinguish between these bands to understand if and when a patient will need to start treatment.
Recorded at the 2017 European Multiple Myeloma Academy (EMMA) in Vienna, Austria.
This program was sponsored by Celgene through an unrestricted educational grant to Video Journal of Hematological Oncology.