Click link below for more info on 5th State of the Art Symposium on Hematologic Malignancies (will be held in Phoenix, AZ on Jan. 17-20. 2008)

http://www.mayo.edu/cme/hematologicmalignancies/

A CONVERSATION WITH DR. RAFAEL FONSECA OF THE MAYO CLINIC

**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

COMING SOON! An interview with Dr. Rafael Fonseca

I have something interesting to share with you. I will be having a post titled: 'A conversation with the Mayo Clinic Consultant, Professor of Medicine, Site Director for Hematological Malignancies (in Scottsdale, AZ), who is Dr. Rafael Fonseca. I will be asking him similar questions that I did with Dr. Philip Greipp. What the latest advancements in treating hematologic malignancies are and hear what the future holds for treatment. Does he have confidence we will conquer the disease by 2015? What exciting issues are being discussed in Greece at the XIth International Myeloma Workshop in Kos, Greece. Stay tuned.....

(Dr. Fonseca is pictured here with Dr. Greipp at the Parthenon in Greece).

I was honored to be a part of this amazing group in D.C.:

Society Advocates Fight for Cancer Research Funding
(printed in e-Newsline of the LLS: May 20, 2007):

At this year’s Mission Day, held March 19-20, in Washington, DC, some 300 Society advocates gathered on Capitol Hill to urge their representatives to address the needs of blood cancer patients and their families.

The top issue was the lack of funding to sustain the war on cancer. Funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) support the majority of cancer research conducted at academic and community cancer centers around the country. Congress doubled the budget for those institutions from 1999 to 2003. Since that time, however, Congress failed time and again to provide sufficient funding to keep pace with inflation, let alone expand on medical research breakthroughs.

Accounting for inflation in medical research costs, the NIH budget for fiscal year 2005 was actually $1.75 billion or 6.2 percent lower than when the doubling was completed in 2003. In fiscal 2006, that trend intensified with an actual cut of $33 million to the NIH budget, for a total of $28 billion. In that same year, NCI received a deep cut in funding for a total of $4.8 billion. The administration’s 2006 budget proposal included an additional reduction for NCI of $40 million – a $186 million decrease relative to the amount needed to maintain current spending adjusted for inflation.

For his fiscal year 2007 proposal, President Bush called for a freeze on NIH spending at 2006 funding levels. After the election, the new Congress was finally able to come to an agreement on 2007 spending in January of this year – essentially funding the NCI at 2006 levels.

These budget cuts are now threatening the future of cancer research that might save more lives. Consider some specifics:


The NCI is facing a 10-percent budget cut for the cancer cooperative groups that coordinate and conduct clinical trials into new therapies. One of the groups, the Children’s Oncology Group, will cut clinical trials by 400 patients.
These cuts would eliminate 95 new clinical trials and reduce patient enrollment by 3,000.
Even in 2002, when the research budget was growing, the government approved only one-in-five promising proposals for new research. Now only one-in-10 is funded.
Individual labs are experiencing cuts of as much as 30 percent. Scientific leaders fear we are in jeopardy of losing a whole generation of scientists.

There is time to reverse these trends, however. In their meetings with legislators, Society advocates urged Congress to increase NIH and NCI funding by 6.7 percent for each of the next three years. That would restore funding to 2003 inflation-adjusted levels and continue the pace of research and discovery.

In this year, more than ever, Society advocates, scientists, clinicians, nurses, patients and families need to be loud
and insistent that cancer funding be restored as a top national priority.

To help the Society advocate for cures, please visit the “Advocacy” section at www.LLS.org . The site offers extensive resources to help with contacting legislators, crafting messages and keeping people up to date about issues that concern blood cancer patients and their families. The Society also publishes numerous free, online eNewsletters. To subscribe, visit the “Free eNewsletters” section on the bottom right of the
www.LLS.org homepage.

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.
**********************************************************
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.

****
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.

****

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.

****

For more information on Dr. Greipp you can click here:

http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/staff/greipp_pr.cfm
And for more information on the NCI's goal of 2015, click here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12610266

A conversation with the Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Mayo Clinic

I have something exciting to share with you. I will be having a post titled: 'A conversation with the Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Mayo Clinic'. I will be asking him what the latest advancements in treating hematologic malignancies are and hear what the future holds for treatment. Does he have confidence we will conquer the disease by 2015? Where will he have his 5th State Of The Art Symposium On Hematologic Malignancies? Stay tuned.....

Update on the The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics

2007 UPDATE:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has proposed $38 million in new spending on biogenomics medical research being conducted through the partnership of Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. The proposed funding, announced as part of the governor's budget released in January of 2007, is the largest installment sought by the GOP governor for pioneering medical research. Previous requests have been $2 million, $15 million and $15 million. The 38 million included in his budget proposal to the Minnesota Legislature suggests the state complete its commitment to the partnership to fully fund it to $70 million.

National Cancer Institute (NCI) is celebrating 70 years of excellence!

On August 5, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation that established NCI to support research related to the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of cancer. Read more about it on this link:
http://www.cancer.gov/aboutnci/ncia

Here is the latest email from Senator Norm Coleman concerning health issues:

"As you may know, I proudly supported an amendment by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) to add $7 billion in funding for health and education in the fiscal year 2007 budget. This amendment would provide funding equal to fiscal year 2005 levels for over 300 programs. The National Institutes of Health, Center for Disease Control, and other worthy programs would benefit by this increased funding. The amendment passed with bi-partisan support by a vote of 73-27 on March 16, 2006.

Unfortunately, only $5 billion of this increase was incorporated in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill. While I am encouraged by this progress, I nevertheless would like to see additional funding for these programs.

You will be pleased to know that I recently joined Senator Specter and Senator Harkin in urging Senate leadership to restore the additional $2 billion. We simply cannot short-fund health programs that provide essential research and services to prevent devastating diseases. Neither can we sacrifice education programs that invest in our nation's most vital resource, our children.
Please know that I will continue to work to ensure that health and education programs receive adequate funding. "

Sincerely,
Norm Coleman
United States Senate

I am beginning to gather information to put on this blog.

This blog will be a great way for me to connect with others in the world who share an interest of securing as much funding as possible for health issues. I applaud all the researchers who work very hard to find better ways to treat illness. My friend Phil is holding the '4th State of the Art Symposium on Hematologic Malignancies in Wellington, New Zealand on January 14-18, 2007'. It will be a super event full of new information. Here's the link: http://www.mayo.edu/cme/hematologicmalignancies/