A group of scientists led by Sigurður Yngvi Kristinsson, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland and the Department of Haematology at Landspítali University Hospital of Iceland, recently received a major grant to identify and treat precursor of blood cancer before disease develops. A part of the study is to invite approximately 140,000 adults over age 40 years in Iceland for screening the earliest signs of myeloma.
Myeloma is a chronic disease of the blood plasma cells. Symptoms often go undetected until the disease has had serious effects on the patient’s health. The disease affects approximately 25 people in Iceland each year, and over 200,000 people around the world. More potent therapies with fewer side effects have improved the prognosis for myeloma patients considerably in recent years.
The study is called, iStopMM (Iceland Screens Treats or Prevents Multiple Myeloma) and will seek informed consent of all citizens of Iceland over the age of 40 to undergo routine blood tests.
Sigurður Yngvi Kristinsson, Professor and Project Leader, says that his team plans on screening for the precursors to myeloma – MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance) and smoldering myeloma. “We will utilize the fact that most elderly individual will undergo routine blood test for various unrelated reasons. We will thus use blood that is otherwise thrown away.”
“Those individuals diagnosed with the precursors will then be invited to participate in a randomized clinical trial to identify the best strategy for management and to create a new risk model for disease progression.”
While most MGUS cases are never diagnosed, it is estimated that 4% of people over the age of 50 have MGUS. “The impact of early diagnosis in a whole population is a very ambitious and challenging goal,” said Dr. Kristinsson. “With more potent therapies available with fewer side effects, it is very likely that treatment of precursor states will be shown to improve survival and quality of life in smoldering and MGUS patients.”
The University of Iceland, Landspítali – University Hospital, the Icelandic Cancer Society, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and Binding Site in the UK collaborate on the study. The iStopMM team led by Dr. Kristinsson consists of seven PhD students, a statistician, a project manager and medical students.
Patron of the study is Mrs. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former President of Iceland.
The International Myeloma Foundation in the United States allocates the grant. IMF is the largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of myeloma patients while working toward prevention and a cure that it is funding this first large-scale screening study aimed at preventing myeloma before it develops. In 2012, the IMF launched the Black Swan Research Initiative, a ground breaking research project aimed at curing myeloma. “We are extremely pleased to be able to support this study as we strongly believe that early diagnosis and treatment can lead to the cure of Myeloma,” says Dr. Brian Durie, IMF Chairman and Co-Founder and leader of the IMF’s Black Swan Research Initiative, currently supporting more than 35 myeloma research efforts around the world.