Keyboardist and songwriter Richard Bell, one-time member of Janis Joplin's band, died one June 15 of multiple myeloma in a Toronto hospital. He was 61.

Bell, who began playing with Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band in 1970, was diagnosed with cancer one year ago. He received intensive treatment and made a comeback, despite his poor prognosis. This past spring, however, his cancer returned.

Bell is also known for his musical work with artists such as Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Joe Walsh, Paul Butterfield, The Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn, and Bonnie Raitt. His most recent gig was with the Toronto jazz and blue group Pork Bellies Futures.

He is survived by his mother, his sister, and his nieces and nephews.

The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 16,600 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Bone pain is the most common early symptom of myeloma. Most patients feel pain in their back or ribs, but it can occur in any bone. The pain is usually made worse by movement.

Patients fatigue more easily and often feel weak. They may also have a pale complexion from anemia which is a common medical problem for patients with myeloma and may contribute to the fatigue. If the disease progresses, the concentration of normal cells in the blood may also decrease. Headaches, bruising, nose bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, and tingling or numbness in extremities are all symptoms of myeloma.

Patients may have repeated infections because antibodies to invading viruses, bacteria or other disease agents are not made efficiently of in adequate amounts. Urinary tract, bronchial, lung, skin, or other sites of infection may be the first sign of the disease. In addition, recurrent infections may complicate the course of the disease.

Former Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Vern Ruhle died Saturday after a year-long battle with myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. He was 55.

Ruhle, who missed the entire 2006 season following his diagnosis, had recently undergone stem cell transplants in hopes the procedures would successfully treat his cancer. But complications of the disease rendered the attempts unsuccessful.

Ruhle served 12 years as a major league pitching coach and worked in Houston, Philadelphia, and New York before joining the Reds in 2004. He had a career record of 67-88 with a 3.73 ERA.

Ruhle is survived by his wife, Sue, his daughter, Rebecca, his son, Kenny -- and his Cincinnati Reds family.

"The baseball and Cincinnati Reds families mourn the loss of an excellent coach, wonderful husband, and loving father," the Reds said in a statement. "In his 35 years in professional and collegiate baseball, Vern touched many people inside and outside the game. We are privileged to have been a part of his life. He will be greatly missed."

The two drugs Velcade (bortezomib) and Revlimid (lenalidomide) are designed to treat the bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma. A Phase I clinical trial has shown that the drugs may be more effective together than when used individually.

The trial was led by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. It included 38 patients who had their cancer recur despite other therapies. The patients were divided into groups that received successively higher doses of Velcade and Revlimid. Some patients also received the drug dexamethasone which can add to the anticancer effects of these two drugs.

Fifty-eight percent has responded to the combined treatment, six percent achieved complete remission. Researcher Dr. Paul Richardson said in a prepared statement "We are hopeful that this combination will prove to be a key therapeutic backbone in improving outcomes for our patients, both early and later in the course".

The drug sildenafil, better known as Viagra has been shown in mice to support the immune system's response to cancer cells. Mice with colon and breast tumors showed that the tumor size decreased two and threefold when treated with sildenafil compared with the mice that did not receive the drug. The researchers also believe that they have evidence that sildenafil is effective on the immune system because in mice engineered to lack an immune system the tumors were unaffected. Tissue samples taken from head and neck cancer and multiple myeloma patients showed similar results.

Viagra is a class of drugs used to treat impotence. It is known to stimulate nitric oxide which hinder the effects of a specialized cell that can divert the immune system away from the tumor. The researchers are trying to figure out how cancer cells can avoid detection by the immune system. T-cells that mount the attack on cancer cells are manipulated by the cancer cells and prevent them from being seen by the immune system. Viagra can unmask the cancer cells and let the immune system recognize and attack them.

The treatment combination of Revlimid (lenalidomide), Oncovin (vincristine), Doxil (pegylated doxorubicin) and dexamethasone appears to be highly effective in multiple myeloma that has recurred or progressed following prior therapies.

According to an article published in the Annals of Oncology, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic conducted a clinical trial to evaluate this combination of drugs. The trial included 62 patients, 75 percent of the patients achieved an anticancer response and 29 percent of patients achieved a complete or near complete disappearance of detectable cancer.

The researchers note that determining treatment choices for those patients who recur after initial therapy is more challenging than treating patients that have not received prior therapy. Multiple myeloma is usually treated with chemotherapy -- however -- new treatments are evolving that are better tolerated, especially in older patients who cannot handle aggressive chemotherapy. The researchers continue to evaluate strategies in order to offer patients individualized treatment options.

The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new clinical study today using a vaccine strain of the measles virus to attack recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The Mayo Clinic's research has grown from the most basic laboratory science to the sophisticated therapy being tested today on several tumor types, including GBM, recurrent ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma.

The study is designed to test the safety of the virus for the treatment of gliomas and enable monitoring of anti-tumor activity. Eligible candidates for the therapy will have GBM that has progressed after surgery and radiation therapy. They also must be immune to measles, either having had the disease or been vaccinated against it.

Many cancer cells, including glioblastoma cells, overexpress a specific protein which allows tumor cells to avoid destruction by the immune system. Strains of the measles virus seek out this protein and enter the tumor. When it enters the virus begins to spread infecting nearby tumor cells which increases cancer cell death.

Back in the1970's it was noted that measles infections could cause regression of cancer tumors in children. Nothing was done about studying this phenomenon until late in the 1990's when the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center's Molecular Medicine Program began looking into it. The researchers are now also looking at ways to use the measles virus to combat breast and pancreatic cancer, they already have plans to open up another clinic study this fall to test the effectiveness of a version of the measles virus on multiple myeloma.

Actress Mariska Hargitay lost her father on Thursday to multiple myeloma. Mickey Hargitay, the 1955 Mr. Universe, Mr. America, Mr. Olympia, and one-time husband of late sex symbol Jayne Mansfield died at the age of 80 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Born Miklos Hargitay in Hungary, Mickey emigrated to the United States after World War II. Here he entered the world of bodybuilding and then landed a role in Mae West's Las Vegas Revue. Mansfield, who saw the show in 1956, married Hargitay in 1958 -- and the two later had daughter Mariska and two other children. Mansfield and Hargitay divorced in 1964 -- and Mansfield died in a car crash in 1967.

Family members shared in a statement to the media, "words cannot express how saddened we are by the loss of Mickey. At the same time, we are so grateful for who he was and is to all of us, and for the love he gave us in our lives. He will continue to be our source of inspiration and strength."

Hargitay, also know for a few Hercules-style movies, is survived by his wife of 38 years, Ellen, a daughter, a stepdaughter, two sons, a brother, a sister, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

I found a book called Cancer Etiquette. The book was written by a woman who is a survivor of multiple myeloma and breast cancer. In this manners guide to cancer you can find advice on what to say to a cancer patient and what not to say. For example, only say "you look terrific" if the person really does look terrific.

The author Rosanne Kalick also tells us that we should be more specific when offering help to a cancer patient. Don't just say that you're there for them. Offer to do something tangible like cook a meal or baby-sit the kids. Rosanne talks about the distressing comments sometimes said to cancer patients and offers helpful advice on what should be said instead.

This book would be very helpful to caregivers, friends or family members of loved ones dealing with a life threatening illness.

I wrote another post a few days ago called Things not to say to a cancer patient. Well, here are some great things that were said to me when I was going through my cancer journey. These things helped tremendously!

• I will drive you to your chemo treatment.
• Here is some dinner I made for you and your husband.
• I would love to go wig shopping with you.
• Call me any time and I'll be here to talk.
• You still look beautiful to me bald.
• Here are some xanax!
• Can I give you a foot rub?
• Sure, I can take your nipple off and move it to where it belongs (plastic surgeon).
• I'll drive 2 hours to your house and go with you and stay while you get your breast biopsy and wait for the results.
• Hang in there.
• I love you.

Firefighters pull off heroic maneuvers all the time. Heat and smoke and fire are their constant companions. Emergency scenarios keep them perpetually challenged. Risking their lives is a top job responsibility. I can't imagine taking on this line of work, yet I am amazed by those who do -- for their eagerness to save lives while compromising their own. And to read today that cancer is another occupational hazard for firefighters makes me appreciate them even more.

In Edmonton, a firefighter who was praised as a hero for saving the life of a rookie firefighter in 2003 died on Saturday of job-related cancer at the age of 47 -- just two years after doctors diagnosed him with a terminal form of multiple myeloma. Clarke Stevens was expected to live for five years.

Ken Block, president of the Edmonton firefighters union said Stevens' death is a reminder of the risks these heroes take. Block says firefighters are between two and four times more likely to develop certain cancers, and Stevens is the fifth Edmonton firefighter to die of cancer since 2004.

It takes a special person to make saving others' lives a priority. To risk death in so many ways -- for the benefit of strangers -- must be the true definition of selflessness. And thank goodness for these selfless individuals who help keep the rest of us safe.

We have all heard the theory that a cure for cancer has already been found but it is being concealed by the cancer community who stands to lose money if the status quo shifts from treatment to cure. Most of us have spent at least a few moments contemplating the validity of this allegation. Cancer is big business, and as is the case in all big business, decisions are often made with the bottom line of profit in mind. However, the Daily Record ran a feature about Sue McLaren, a young scientist who accepted a research position with the Leukemia Research Fund to study myeloma -- a blood cancer -- that might put into perspective why the conspiracy theory doesn't have legs.

At the time of her appointment to the job, McLaren admits she knew little about myeloma. A few months into researching this cancer, her father was diagnosed with myeloma. For McLaren, what was an academic pursuit became a personal one, as she raced to find a cure for the cancer that was now killing her father. Ultimately, time was not on her side, and her father lost his life to myeloma. It is a touching story, and you can read the feature It was too late to save her beloved father here. I think McLaren's story illustrates why a cure for cancer could not be concealed for long -- if there was one already in existence. The big business of cancer and the cancer community is made up of people, and people get cancer. Or their loved ones get cancer. You are not going to agree to be part of a conspiracy that shoves you into a position of watching someone you love die from a disease -- if there is a cure. 

Gina Volpe, from Lunachicks and Bantam, is participating in the NYC Ford Triathlon to fight lymphoma and leukemia. As part of the July fundraiser she will be swimming in the Hudson River. From Volpe's fundraising webpage:

"All of us in "Team In Training" are raising funds to help stop Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and Myeloma from taking more lives. As a participant in the NYC Triathlon, I am personally committed to raising $2,600 by July 16th, with 75% of all money going directly to the Society for research and their fight to stop cancer. I'm also competing and fundraising in honor of those individuals who are battling blood cancers right now. My tri team has two “Honored Teammates,” one of which is 14-year-old Marie McGrory. I also have my own personal “honoree.” A strong, remarkable woman who is one of my closest friends as well as a survivor of Lymphoma."

My first thought? Goodness, oh my, she's going to swim the Hudson River? If you can help with a donation to a worthy cause and to show your support for an ambitious and gutsy woman, visit Gina Volpe's Team Racing to Save Lives page to donate. The Hudson River?

via PunkNews.org message boards!

On March 5th, over 1,000 firefighters from around the world will participate in the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb at the Seattle Columbia Center to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In its 15th year as a fundraising event, the firefighters have been able to raise over $1 million dollars for the blood cancers society.

Firefighters, outfitted in over 70 lbs. of full gear, including self contained breathing apparatus, SCBA, commonly used in the line of duty, will compete in a race to see who can get to the top of the 69 flights of stairs the fastest, in the 788 vertical foot ascent of the second tallest building west of the Mississippi. On March 19th, The Big Climb for Leukemia, a civilian version of the climb, will take place at the Columbia Center, which attracts over 2,000 competitors each year, is open to the public.

More than 747,000 Americans have leukemia, myeloma or lymphoma, the most common form of blood cancer. Among children under 20, leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer. For more information about the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb or The Big Climb for Leukemia, visit Washington and Alaska chapters of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

A controversial drug known to cause birth defects is now being used as for treating cancer. How did this happen? The drug thalidomide used in the 1950's and 60's to treat morning sickness is now available. Apparently it is very helpful for people with myeloma, (malignant tumor formed by the cells of the bone marrow). It has also been used to stop blood vessel development in cancerous cells. This is not a cure for myeloma, but very beneficial and has been found to greatly increase the quality of life. I am going to assume that it will not be used on women of child bearing age. Hmm, funny how things work out.