I’m hoping for lots of good news at ASCO about myeloma research
A major oncology association is about to start its annual meeting
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Watch for a lot of news about myeloma research in the next few weeks. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is about to hold its annual meeting in Chicago, and I expect there will be some headlines from it.
I’ve been scrolling through the meeting program, which lists dozens of abstracts, or summaries of research projects, about multiple myeloma. There are titles I understand easily — like “A Modern Framework for Defining High-Risk Myeloma” — and then there are terms that leave me a bit mystified, like “multimodal adjudication.” But then, this is a meeting for scientists. I’m just a patient who knows enough to be dangerous!
Still, a few listings caught my eye.
An app to cope with myeloma?
I recently wrote about how an app on my phone helped me stay on schedule with my medications. One ASCO ‘26 presentation is about an iPad app that’s intended to help myeloma patients improve their quality of life, mental health, and fatigue. A description of the THRIVE-M study says the patients will use the app to “learn how to cope with physical symptoms, articulate their needs, navigate relationships, and focus on self-care while living with multiple myeloma.”
The description notes there’s a “high psychological burden” with myeloma, but a limited mental health workforce to deal with it. I’m interested in what the researchers found.
Other studies that caught my eye
Rare Cancer News just reported on the first U,S. human trials of KLN-1010 in the inMMyCAR study. ASCO ‘26 will include an update on this different approach to chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. In regular CAR T-cell therapy, T-cells are extracted from the patient and engineered in a lab with a chimeric antigen receptor. Then the patient gets them back. But the inMMyCAR approach aims to create CAR T-cells within a patient’s body! Researchers hope this will make CAR T-cell therapy more accessible and efficient.
I also spotted something about GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) agonists like Ozempic for myeloma patients. I’m curious to see what they found about that, especially since I’m still trying to get my weight and my blood glucose levels down!
And there’s something about a treatment combo called mirdametinib and sirolimus for relapsed refractory myeloma that I’ve never heard of before.
Keeping the ‘care’ in cancer care
Two other listings interest me, and both are less about hard science than about soft skills. The first is a workshop titled “Communication in Late-Stage Cancer: Discussing Prognosis and Matching Care to Patients’ Goals.” I can only imagine that talking about late-stage cancer is the most difficult of difficult conversations, and I hope this workshop is helpful for doctors and ultimately for their patients.
The second is a lecture titled “From Research to Bedside: Translating Symptom Science to Improve Cancer Outcomes.” I saved this for last because to me it’s an expression of hope, and a step on the way to achieving the ASCO vision: “A world where cancer is prevented or cured, and every survivor is healthy.”
That’s a vision I want to become real.
Note: Rare Cancer News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Rare Cancer News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to rare cancer.
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