**It is now my great pleasure to introduce you to Dr. Rafael Fonseca from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ . He is a Consultant, Professor of Medicine and Site Director for Hematological Malignancies. His research focuses on myeloma and related conditions including MGUS, amyloidosis and Waldenström macroglobulinemia. I will ask him similar questions as I did with Dr. Greipp, to learn the different points of view.Dr. Fonseca, welcome. Please tell me a little about yourself and your research.
I am a hematologist and oncologist who spend quite a bit of my time in the research lab. My goal is to help develop better diagnosis and treatment tools for patients with the aforementioned conditions. In particular I like to think that by understanding the disease biology better, particularly the genetics, we will have even better ways to ultimately be able to cure myeloma.
**How did you become interested in hematologic malignancies and myeloma and Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia specifically?
Mostly be learning from the pros! Phil Greipp, Morie Gertz and Bob Kyle were great mentors who helped me see the value of research and the possibilities that exist to make treatments better. It just happened that they worked in the area of hematology malignancies.
**Could you give a brief definition of myeloma and Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia?
Myeloma and Waldenström macroglobulinemia are similar disorders that arise as cancer transformation of good cells. In both cases the cells that normally would help us be protected from infection by producing antibodies go wrong. In the case of Waldenström macroglobulinemia it is the cells that normally would produce the IgM antibodies while for MM it is the cells that produce the IgG and IgA antibodies. While they are quite similar their biology is totally different.In Waldenström macroglobulinemia patients have elevations of the IgM (sometimes leading to viscous blood, the so called hyperviscosity syndrome), anemia and sometimes enlarged liver and or spleen. In the case of myeloma the cells that are increased in the bone marrow are called plasma cells. The major complications include anemia, kidney failure, bone destruction and in some cases elevations of the blood levels of calcium. In both cases one has ot first define whether patient needs treatments because we frequently see a variant called smoldering MM or smoldering WM, in which patients can go on for decades without needing therapy.
**Do you believe it is possible that cancer could be eradicated by 2015 like the NCI hopes?
I do not think that cancer can ever be eradicated or that cancer will ever be 100% curable. However I am sure that by 2015 we will continue to have so many more tools that the prospects of surviving cancer and being cured from cancer will continue ot get better. The treatments of today are far better than those of 10 years ago and or some disease the prospects of cure are within our reach (e.g. CML, CLL, follicular lymphoma and MM). I hope the same progress can occur for the solid tumors that still lag behind in treatment availability.
**I understand you attended XIth International Myeloma Workshop in Kos, Greece. What were the latest advancements?
Mostly advances in the treatment, particularly the updated results in clinical trails of lenalidomide and bortezomib.
**This was very informational, thank you very much for your time Dr. Fonseca.
For more information on Dr. Rafael Fonseca, click link below:
http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/staff/fonseca_r.cfm