Video

What It’s Like to Be a Myeloma Millennial, Or, ‘Myelennial’

Author(s):

In an interview, Dr. Nina Shah of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center explains what a myeloma millennial, or ‘myelennial,’ is, and how recent advances in multiple myeloma treatments inspired the term.

The treatments for multiple myeloma have changed dramatically over the past decade, according to an expert at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In an interview with CURE®, Dr. Nina Shah, an associate professor of clinical medicine, explained how the new drugs and tools used to treat multiple myeloma inspired her to coin the term “myelennial,” which is inspired by jokes frequently made by the millennial generation about certain characteristics and cultural norms of their age group.

“I have some criteria, like, ‘only looks at MRD data,’ you know, ‘thinks Durie-Salmon is a paint color at Sherwin Williams,’ and you know, ‘has never given thalidomide or oral melphalan,’” said Shah. “It’s the myeloma millennials. It’s not that I was actually born in the millennial generation, but as a myeloma doctor, I’m a millennial.”

Transcription:

You know the reason I call myself a “myelennial,” is that myeloma has absolutely dramatically changed in the past 10 to 15 years, but even in the last five years. And so, the things that we used to do, even actually before I was practicing myeloma, with melphalan and prednisone, that was it. And then there was thalidomide and now, I mean even lenalidomide, which was considered novel is actually not that novel anymore.

So, there are all these new drugs and the few tools we have, we have so many more of them now. So now I can say it's like the same thing as being a millennial. It's like I have some criteria, like ‘only looks at MRD data,’ you know, ‘thinks Durie-Salmon is a paint color at Sherwin Williams,’ and you know, ‘has never given thalidomide or oral melphalan,’ these things. It's the myeloma millennials. It's not that I was actually born in the millennial generation, but as a myeloma doctor I'm a millennial. I want answers and I want them right now, on an app!

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here

Related Videos
Dr. Suneel Kamath is an assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, in Ohio.
Image of Dr. Fakih.
Dr. Catherine Wu is chief of the Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and institute member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. John Oertle discusses the key benefits to come from patients with cancer connecting with support networks, advocacy groups and resources.
Dr. Gabriel A. Brooks discussed the recent FDA product labeling update for Xeloda and 5-FU.
Dr. Alan Tan is the GU Oncology Lead at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as an associate professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and GU Executive Officer with the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.
Bald Doctor.
Dr. Anna Arthur is the Director of the Medical Nutrition Science Program, as well as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Dr. Ritu Salani, the Director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), UCLA Health, and a board-certified gynecologic oncologist.
Image of Dr. Scott Kopetz
Related Content