For the second year in a row, the Myeloma Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is proud to partner with Patient Power for a multiple myeloma town meeting the morning of Saturday, Sept. 9 in Little Rock, Ark. All aspects of myeloma will be covered in an easy-to-follow “talk-show style” format during this free event “Living Well with Multiple Myeloma: Understanding Genetics and Developing Research.”
UAMS experts Gareth Morgan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Myeloma Center; Faith Davies, M.D., deputy director; Frits van Rhee, M.D., PhD., and guest expert Guido Tricot, M.D., Ph.D., formerly with the UAMS Myeloma Center, will speak about the significance of genetic profiling, imaging and how to get involved with developing research.
Tricot, a hematologist originally from Belgium, was formerly with the UAMS Myeloma Center. During that time, most transplant treatments involved one round of high-dose chemotherapy which killed not only the patient’s cancerous cells but also healthy ones. To improve upon this, he introduced induction chemotherapy.
“He is responsible for developing one of the most effective induction regimens for multiple myeloma that’s being used around the world,” Morgan said of Tricot. “The combination chemotherapy approach is really what he is known for; his work formed the basis for one the regimens we still use. It’s well tolerated, gets people into remission quickly and doesn’t damage the stem cells.”
While at UAMS, Tricot and his colleagues pioneered the use of a treatment technique which increased the median survival rate for newly diagnosed patients from 2 ½ years to 10 or more.
Tricot left UAMS in 2007 to launch the new Utah Blood and Marrow Transplant and Myeloma Program at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute as its director. In 2012, he joined the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City, Ia. where he was most recently an emeritus professor of Internal medicine professor with hematology, oncology and blood and marrow transplantation. He is now retired and spends the most of his time in Little Rock.
During the event, hosted by patient advocate Jeff Folloder, attendees will also have the opportunity to meet and connect with others living with myeloma over complimentary breakfast and coffee.
Register at www.patientpower.info/Sept9 or call (888)739-3127 to attend this free event from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., CT on Saturday, Sept. 9 at UAMS Myeloma Center (501 Jack Stephens Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205). Parking and refreshments are complimentary. If unable to attend in-person, patients and care partners can still register (https://patientpower.info/event/myeloma-arkansas-2017) to watch online via live stream from their computer and get access to the replay.
Myeloma patients and their loved ones need to be informed of the latest treatment and research news and what it means for them, particularly genetic testing and imaging. One past town meeting attendee said, “I have such a better understanding of my myeloma since being here. I now feel confident and informed as I go back home and continue to my life.”
Patient Power® is a service of Seattle-based Patient Power, LLC led by founders Andrew and Esther Schorr, supported by team members around the world. The couple earlier founded Health Talk, offering support for people with chronic illnesses and cancer.
Andrew was diagnosed with leukemia in 1996 following a routine blood test.