The Year in Lymphoma

I resisted doing any kind of "year end list" this year -- either a list of my own or linking to a list of someone else's -- because I saw someone say on Twitter that he'd kill a bunny for every year-end list he saw on a blog.

But I couldn't resist linking to this one: it's the "Musings on Progress Against Lymphoma" written by Karl Schwartz, President of Patients Against Lymphoma, an organization that does a huge amount for Lymphoma Patients, through advocacy and education. They've benefited me in so many ways, directly and indirectly, and Karl is a master at explaining difficult things and putting them into a broader context. So I'm happy to share a link to his look back at 2011 and look ahead to 2012.

Karl discusses a number of treatment breakthroughs and milestones that took place last year. I'm kind of proud of myself for having discussed a bunch of these myself in Lympho Bob -- I have great respect for Karl and PAL, and it's nice to know that I can see the same significance that they have seen. Among Karl's significant picks for the year:

• "Bendamustine-R is supplanting R-CHOP as initial primary therapy for the indolent lymphomas." Significant for me, especially, since at the moment, this seems to be Dr. R's choice for treatment if/when I need it again (not that I anticipate needing it in the foreseeable future). There's still nothing close to a consensus among practioners for preferred first-line treatment for Follicular NHL, but B-R is certainly getting a lot of attention lately.
• Rituxan-as-needed showing the same results as Rituxan Maintenance. As Karl says, "The findings of this CER study (about 12 years after the approval of the drug!) should substantially reduce the cost of health care (an increasing concern in our times) while decreasing the amount of treatment we are exposed to in order to achieve the same result.  Importantly, using less Rituxan may also reduce the incidence of infections, which can impair our quality of life of course … and is also expensive to treat." No additional comment from me, other than to point out that I'm on the Rituxan-as-needed train....
• Finally, "Meanwhile, the place of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) remains uncertain." As Karl points out (and as I have reported over the last 4 years), RIT is effective but underused for a number of reasons. But Zevalin keeps chugging along, chipping away at the resistance that doctors and insurers have displayed.

I also agree with many of the items on his Wish List for 2012: encouraging patients to participate in clinical trials; hoping for some quick and intense testing of new treatments; and greater understanding of how lymphoma works, patient by patient, so treatments can be individualized. I'll let you read his full list.

So, thank you Karl for all of your fine work. When I encounter a new Lymphoma patient, I send them to PAL first. It really is the best site I know of for basic and advanced information about our disease.

As a nonprofit, PAL accepts donations. Feel free to give to help them continue their mission. (They were one of the organizations that I suggested people donate to in lieu of giving me money on Pay A Blogger Day last year.)

(By the way, thanks to everyone who paid me on that day.)

(Yeah, that was sarcasm...)