A CONVERSATION WITH DR. PHILIP GREIPP OF THE MAYO CLINIC.
It is now my great pleasure to introduce you to Dr. Philip Greipp from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He is the Director of the Cancer Center Hematologic Malignancies Program. His research focuses on the biology of multiple myeloma and related monoclonal gammopathies.
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Dr. Greipp, welcome. Please tell me a little about yourself and your research.
Well, first I am a physician taking care of patients with plasma cell disorders at the Mayo Clinic. Currently I serve as Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at Mayo Clinic and my primary research is in the area of multiple myeloma a cancer of marrow plasma cells. We believe that the primary reason patients with myeloma die of their disease is because the marrow plasma cells undergo a critical growth change and we have devised a method to measure their growth called the plasma cell labeling index. We are interested in how treatments may interfere with this growth change and therefore prolong patients’ lives.
How did you become interested in hematologic malignancies and myeloma specifically?
It is the patients. Early on in my training I observed the courage of patients with hematologic malignancies and became interested in how I might help them not only by providing good patient care but by working on their problems in the laboratory. It is difficult for one person to work across all Hematologic Malignancies. My concept was to form Disease Oriented Groups to do this at Mayo. Specific doctors would work with colleagues interested primarily in the patients specific disease, whether it be multiple myeloma, lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia or a myeloid disorder while I worked primarily in the area of myeloma sharing information to and from the other disease groups with our own disease group.
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Can you share with me the latest advancements in treating multiple myeloma?
There have been critical advances in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of multiple myeloma for example we now know that myeloma is not just one disease and it can be accurately classified by cytogenetics. We also know that certain cytogenetic and molecular types of myeloma do not respond well to standard treatments and they deserve new treatment approaches.
****Can you share with me the latest advancements in treating multiple myeloma?
There have been critical advances in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of multiple myeloma for example we now know that myeloma is not just one disease and it can be accurately classified by cytogenetics. We also know that certain cytogenetic and molecular types of myeloma do not respond well to standard treatments and they deserve new treatment approaches.
Do you believe it is possible that cancer could be eradicated by 2015 like the NCI hopes?
I am hoping that one by one certain cancers will be eradicated even sooner than 2015 and that eventually all cancers will follow that path.
I am hoping that one by one certain cancers will be eradicated even sooner than 2015 and that eventually all cancers will follow that path.
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Dr. Greipp, I was very impressed when I attended one of your Hematologic Symposiums you directed in the past. Where do you plan on holding your '5th State Of The Art Symposium on Hematologic Malignancies'?
The 5th Hematologic Malignancies Meeting has been scheduled for Scottsdale, Arizona in January of 2008. We hope many people come to learn the latest progress against these diseases.
****Thank you very much for your time Dr. Greipp.
Thank you Natalie.
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For more information on Dr. Greipp you can click here:
http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/staff/greipp_pr.cfmAnd for more information on the NCI's goal of 2015, click here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12610266