Thalidomide Continues to Show Benefits Against Myeloma

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According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, more than 15,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with multiple myeloma. The disease affects blood cells called B-lymphocytes. While some myelomas are slow-moving and pose little immediate threat, others can be very aggressive.

Thalidomide was taken off the market in the 1960s, because women who took it during pregnancy had a much higher rate of severe birth defects. However, studies suggesting it might help against cancer led to its reintroduction -- with strict controls -- in 1998.

A second study in the same issue of the journal looked at a single African-American family with 5 cases of multiple myeloma; 3 cases of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS, the presence of an abnormal protein in the blood); and 5 cases of prostate cancer in just two generations.

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The family should be studied further, stated the authors, from Creighton University in Omaha, to possibly shed light on the genetic underpinnings of myeloma.

Although the causes of myeloma are unknown, it is more common in blacks than in whites.

More information

Visit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for more on myeloma.

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