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Cancer experts to discuss new findings

Philadelphia - August 01, 2006 - The International Myeloma Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation supporting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, is bringing leading experts to a conference to discuss the latest trends and developments changing the face of cancer care.

These new developments include the recent approval of the once controversial drug thalidomide for multiple myeloma and the anticipated approval this month of a related drug called Revlimid.

The conference will be held on August 4 and 5 at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia.

"When I was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma most patients were given three to five years to live. But for me that was 13 years ago, and here I am leading an active productive life," says Philadelphia resident Marilyn Alexander.

"I am in complete remission on a new drug called Revlimid, a pill I take at home that has none of the ravages associated with traditional chemotherapy."

Multiple myeloma is a cancer in the bone marrow that affects production of red cells, white cells and stem cells. With more than 100 drugs in clinical trials, myeloma is leading the way to the new model for cancer treatment.

Although it remains incurable, myeloma is fast becoming a chronic cancer, where people will take their medication and go about their lives.

"As I wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, contrary to a widely held belief, multiple myeloma is not a rare, rapidly fatal disorder that affects only elderly patients," said Edward Stadtmauer, MD, hematologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

"Instead, it is the second most common blood cancer. Half of these patients were diagnosed when they were younger than 60, and increasingly, the disease is detected in patients under the age of 40. The detection of myeloma in patients who are relatively young and otherwise healthy has allowed the use of increasingly aggressive and potentially more efficacious therapies."

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