Deidre Rubcich, 57, multiple myeloma, Walnut Creek CA, with Irene Ghobrial, MD, Co-Director, Center for the Prevention of Progression of Blood Cancers (CPOP), Dana-Farber
After blood work results revealed a low white blood cell count, Deidre was referred to a hematologist/oncologist. They ruled out an autoimmune disorder as the potential cause, but discovered SMM, a pre-blood cancer. From there, she met with Dr. Ghobrial at the Center for Prevention of Progression at Dana-Farber in July of 2022 and learned about an immunotherapy clinical trial. The drug works to fight myeloma cells before they become too prevalent in the body.
Deidre started treatment in August of 2022, stayed in the hospital for 5 days, and has
since had weekly treatments, then every other week, to now monthly. She receives a
subcutaneous injection in the abdomen and will complete the clinical trial in one more year. She describes Dr. Ghobrial as a trailblazer, treating patients early when they have a precursor disorder to try to prevent disease progression into multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is a relatively uncommon cancer. In the United States, the lifetime risk of getting multiple myeloma is 1 in 132, or less than 1%. According to the American Cancer Society, there will be an estimated 35,730 new cases of
multiple myeloma diagnosed in the United States for 2023 (19,860 in men and 15,870 in women).
Dr. Ghobrial completed her M.D. at Cairo University and a residency in Internal Medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, then trained as a Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She is currently a Professor of Medicine and the Lavine Family Chair for Preventative Cancer Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard
Medical School. She is the Director of Translational Research in the Department of Multiple Myeloma, Director of the Center for Prevention of Progression diseases (CPOP), and co-leader of the Lymphoma and Myeloma Program at Dana-Farber. She is the co-leader of the Stand Up to Cancer Myeloma Dream Team—the first Dream Team award for blood cancer, the recipient of the Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Research Award, and the William Dameshek Prize given annually by The American Society of Hematology (ASH) to an individual, younger than 50 who has made outstanding contributions in hematology.