I've Relapsed!

I met with Dr. Richardson at Dana Farber yesterday to enroll in the Mezigdomide (Mezi) clinical trial. In anticipation of my MM relapsing, I signed all the consent documents. I also went through a battery of tests yesterday and today, including providing a 24-hour urine sample, a transthoracic echocardiogram, supplying at least 20 vials of blood (a new record!), an X-ray skeletal survey, and an EKG.

The one test result that I was particularly keen on seeing was the Free-light chain blood test. One criterion for MM relapse is that the involved free light chain (in my case, Kappa) increases by more than 100 mg/L from its normal value. 

In my last post, I showed a chart of those results for the past several years. Up until 2023, my Kappa light chain has hovered in the normal range at around 18 mg/L. Then on my last visit in September, it had spiked to 112.8, almost meeting the relapse criteria. As I anticipated, the result from yesterday was 120.7, so I am now in a clinical MM relapse. The good news is that I am now officially enrolled in the Mezi clinical trial before the October 31 cutoff date. I should start the trial in a couple of weeks.

Dr. Richardson was extremely upbeat about this clinical trial. He said that the response rate to this protocol is over 80%, which is very good! He will be presenting trial results at the next ASH conference in December. He also said that this is a good trial for my high-risk t(4;14) cytogenetics. I wish I had recorded his remarks about this because I didn't understand half of what he said. However, the fact that he is confident gives me confidence.

So it begins! I will occasionally update this blog when I have some results to share.