Dr. van Rhree - Searching for the ultimate CURE! Dr. Fritz van Rhee discussed the Total Therapy Program for Multiple Myeloma of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, AR. The program was broadcast on December 16th, and you can listen to a rebroadcast of this exceptional Cure Panel if you CLICK HERE.
I am excited about this broadcast for a number of reasons. First, this is the only program in the world that has professed to a Cure for the last 10 years, and although they have been criticized for using the word cure, they now show a cure rate of 40% for low risk patients. This happens to be the best results of any hospital which reports their survival data. In addition, their most recent data shows an average life expectancy of 15 years for their TT3 program, and this is 3.8 times longer than the average of all the facilities that report their survival to the National Cancer Institute. Now some 10 years later many multiple myeloma specialists talk of cure in some 10 to 25 percent of myeloma patients. Second, Dr. van Rhee is not only a myeloma specialist he is one of the world's premier researchers into Castleman's disease (100 times rarer than myeloma). One of his patients honored him with one of the most moving stories of how a committed, relentless, caring, and patient driven doctor (Dr van Rhee), who refused to give up and saved his life. When he felt he was beyond death's door, with no more options available, the good doctor begged drug companies to give his patient one last chance. It truly moved me! You can read a Chicago Tribune article from his patient if you CLICK HERE. I was thinking I should photo shop a halo onto the head of Dr. van Rhee because he sounds like he should be Sainted. Finally, and for full disclosure, Dr. Bart Barlogie of UAMS along with Mayo Clinic saved my life from what was at the time a 3 month life expectancy for my myeloma which had a negative prognostic indicator. I am now 7 years and 10 months in CR with no sign of the MM in any of my tests.
UAMS is one of the most renowned and recognized programs in the world, and this broadcast is your opportunity to listen to one of the founding fathers of the Total Therapy program. To view a previous blog post about UAMS CLICK HERE. Good luck and God Bless your Myeloma Journey/ [email protected]
For more information on multiple myeloma CLICK HERE and you can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/grpetersen1
Dr. van Rhee's brief Bio:
Fritz van Rhee M.D., Ph.D is an internationally known multiple myeloma researcher and professor of medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine and director of Developmental and Translational Medicine in the Myeloma Institute. He joined the Myeloma Institute in 2001, establishing a laboratory for developing innovative medical treatments using the bodys immune system. He is the leader of multiple National Cancer Institute-funded grant projects related to developmental therapeutics and anti-myeloma effects of so-called natural killer cells in the body's immune system. He earned his medical degree from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1985 and is UK board certified in Internal Medicine and Hematology. van Rhee trained in Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the John Radcliffe University Hospital in Oxford and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London and earned his doctorate degree from the Imperial College of Science, Medicine and Technology at the University of London. He came to the U.S. in 1996 as a Fogarty Fellow under John Barrett, M.D. with the Allotransplant Section of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
I am excited about this broadcast for a number of reasons. First, this is the only program in the world that has professed to a Cure for the last 10 years, and although they have been criticized for using the word cure, they now show a cure rate of 40% for low risk patients. This happens to be the best results of any hospital which reports their survival data. In addition, their most recent data shows an average life expectancy of 15 years for their TT3 program, and this is 3.8 times longer than the average of all the facilities that report their survival to the National Cancer Institute. Now some 10 years later many multiple myeloma specialists talk of cure in some 10 to 25 percent of myeloma patients. Second, Dr. van Rhee is not only a myeloma specialist he is one of the world's premier researchers into Castleman's disease (100 times rarer than myeloma). One of his patients honored him with one of the most moving stories of how a committed, relentless, caring, and patient driven doctor (Dr van Rhee), who refused to give up and saved his life. When he felt he was beyond death's door, with no more options available, the good doctor begged drug companies to give his patient one last chance. It truly moved me! You can read a Chicago Tribune article from his patient if you CLICK HERE. I was thinking I should photo shop a halo onto the head of Dr. van Rhee because he sounds like he should be Sainted. Finally, and for full disclosure, Dr. Bart Barlogie of UAMS along with Mayo Clinic saved my life from what was at the time a 3 month life expectancy for my myeloma which had a negative prognostic indicator. I am now 7 years and 10 months in CR with no sign of the MM in any of my tests.
UAMS is one of the most renowned and recognized programs in the world, and this broadcast is your opportunity to listen to one of the founding fathers of the Total Therapy program. To view a previous blog post about UAMS CLICK HERE. Good luck and God Bless your Myeloma Journey/ [email protected]
For more information on multiple myeloma CLICK HERE and you can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/grpetersen1
Dr. van Rhee's brief Bio:
Fritz van Rhee M.D., Ph.D is an internationally known multiple myeloma researcher and professor of medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine and director of Developmental and Translational Medicine in the Myeloma Institute. He joined the Myeloma Institute in 2001, establishing a laboratory for developing innovative medical treatments using the bodys immune system. He is the leader of multiple National Cancer Institute-funded grant projects related to developmental therapeutics and anti-myeloma effects of so-called natural killer cells in the body's immune system. He earned his medical degree from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1985 and is UK board certified in Internal Medicine and Hematology. van Rhee trained in Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the John Radcliffe University Hospital in Oxford and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London and earned his doctorate degree from the Imperial College of Science, Medicine and Technology at the University of London. He came to the U.S. in 1996 as a Fogarty Fellow under John Barrett, M.D. with the Allotransplant Section of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
RSS Feed