WHAT'S NEWS Key IMF Publications Updated and Available With the help, guidance, and direction of our Scientific Advisors and the efforts of our team of specialists on the IMF hotline, the IMF is proud to present updated patient information materials prepared under the supervision of Dr. Brian G.M. Durie. The Concise Review, the Patient Handbook, and important treatment volumes from the Understanding Series have been updated in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. An updated version of the Patient Handbook in Chinese is also available. As we told you here last week, the IMF is going to the 47th Annual American Society of Hematology's Meeting (ASH), in Atlanta, Georgia from December 10-13, and will be supporting the New Agents and New Opportunities for Multiple Myeloma: Today and Tomorrow presentation put on by the Institute for Continuing Healthcare Education during Super Friday on December 9. We are covering this important conference, as we did in Sydney and at ASH and ASCO last year. Watch for our webcasts. If attending, please stop by our booth, #535. For more information about the conference, go to www.hematology.org. When you shop for the IMF this holiday season, you don't pay any extra for your gifts, and the myeloma community benefits Click on shop.myeloma.org and help support the IMF's research and educational programs by buying gifts from merchants such as Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, buy.com, FTD.com and 1-800-Flowers.com (for decorating those festive holiday tables), Lands' End, Macy's, Sharper Image and Walmart, to name a few. The IMF receives a portion of everything you buy when you access their sites via special links we have set up. Or click on either the "Events" or "Helping the IMF" tabs and scroll down through the items that are designed by our IMFers, such as the hand printed holiday cards by Kathleen Tezla, Pam Larsen's Multiple Colors For Multiple Myeloma personalized keychains and earrings, or Kristi Difford's gorgeous personalized jewelry. There are also scenic cards designed by Irma Catlett for the IMF and Cathy Goetz's wine bottle vests for dressing up that holiday dinner gift of wine. And all from the comfort of your laptop! So start early--avoid the crowds--and be the first in your neighborhood to cross all those items off your list.

ADVOCACY ACTION! Congress Can't Agree on Spending Bill Congress is set to return in mid-December to finish business for this legislative year. The bill that funds most medical research in this nation, the FY 2006 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, has to be passed before Christmas. More... Action Alert: All myeloma advocates around the nation should call and fax messages to their senators and representatives in the next two weeks to request that they: Support passage of a Labor, HHS appropriations bill that follows the Senate recommendation to increase funds for NIH (National Institutes of Health) by $1 billion. Oppose any decrease of funds for the cancer programs at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Oppose any across-the-board spending cuts impacting medical research funding. Make cancer research a high national priority. Please go to www.senate.gov or www.house.gov if you are unsure about the identity of your representative or senators. Each site has a feature into which you can type your zip code and address to find out. These sites also provide links to the individual home pages of the members with contact addresses and numbers. You can also call the Capital switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representative's and senators' offices. It is best to call and send faxes. Mail is still being delayed because of the anthrax incidents and email responses are spotty at best. If you have any questions, please contact IMF Advocate Greg Brozeit by email or by phone at 330-865-0046.

WHAT'S NEW IN RESEARCH ARTICLES Myeloma therapy: the future is bright Michele Cavo Blood 2005;106 4018-4019 Not all that glitters is gold Yair Gazitt Blood 2005;106 4025-4026 Combination therapy with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone (Rev/Dex) for newly diagnosed myeloma S. Vincent Rajkumar, Suzanne R. Hayman, Martha Q. Lacy, Angela Dispenzieri, Susan M. Geyer, Brian Kabat, Steven R. Zeldenrust, Shaji Kumar, Philip R. Greipp, Rafael Fonseca, John A. Lust, Stephen J. Russell, Robert A. Kyle, Thomas E. Witzig, and Morie A. Gertz Blood 2005;106 4050-4053 CD8+T cells specific for cancer germline gene antigens are found in many patients with multiple myeloma, and their frequency correlates with disease burden Oliver Goodyear, Karen Piper, Naeem Khan, Jane Starczynski, Prem Mahendra, Guy Pratt, and Paul Moss Blood 2005;106 4217-4224 The combination of the farnesyl transferase inhibitor lonafarnib and the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib induces synergistic apoptosis in human myeloma cells that is associated with down-regulation of p-AKT Ebenezer David, Shi-Yong Sun, Edmund K. Waller, Jing Chen, Fadlo R. Khuri, and Sagar Lonial Blood 2005;106 4322-4329 Multitarget inhibition of drug-resistant multiple myeloma cell lines by dimethyl-celecoxib (DMC), a non-COX-2 inhibitory analog of celecoxib Adel Kardosh, Nathaniel Soriano, Yen-Ting Liu, Jasim Uddin, Nicos A. Petasis, Florence M. Hofman, Thomas C. Chen, and Axel H. Schonthal Blood 2005;106 4330-4338 Total therapy 2 without thalidomide: comparison with total therapy 1: role of intensified induction and post-transplant consolidation therapies Bart Barlogie, Guido Tricot, Erik Rasmussen, Elias Anaissie, Frits van Rhee, Maurizio Zangari, Athanasios Fassas, Klaus Hollmig, Mauricio Pineda-Roman, John Shaughnessy, Joshua Epstein, and John Crowley Blood published 1 December 2005, 10.1182/blood-2005-10-4084 CLINICAL TRIALS VELCADE® trials THALOMID® trials TRISENOX™ trials REVLIMID™ trials REVLIMID™ Expanded Access Protocol DOXIL® trials If you would like more information about any clinical trial, you can call the IMF Hotline at 800-452-CURE. The Myeloma Matrix has a current list of all myeloma trials from pre-clinical to recently FDA approved. If you would like to browse trials currently open for enrollment, visit the Clinical Trials page of the IMF web site. Among the links, you will find EmergingMed, with whom the IMF has entered into a partnership to assist you in matching trials to your particular patient profile (i.e., stage of disease, previous treatment, how well you are able to carry out the activities of daily living, etc.) and by doing so, increase your chances of being eligible. You can also learn more about clinical trials by reviewing materials from the National Cancer Institute.

UPCOMING SEMINARS AND CLINICAL CONFERENCES San Francisco Patient & Family Seminar February 10-11, 2006 San Francisco, California Fort Lauderdale Patient & Family Seminar March 31 - April 1, 2006 Fort Lauderdale, Florida See complete list of 2006 UPCOMING SEMINARS AND MEETINGS.

SHOP WITH THE IMF FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND FOR THE CURE... Hand Printed Christmas Cards! This holiday season, send a handmade Christmas card, printed one at a time by IMFer Kathleen Tezla and her father, myeloma patient Joseph, on fine art watercolor paper using an antique printing press. What is so special about them, besides their artisanal beauty, is that the history of each of three Christmas icons--the candy cane, holly, and the poinsettia--is printed on the inside cover. There is a reason candy canes are traditionally given at Christmas, and it has nothing to do with your sweet tooth. Multiple Colors for Multiple Myeloma Keychains and Earrings The gift-giving holidays will be upon us sooner than we think. And there are always birthdays, anniversaries, and "just because you're you" occasions. Here are two new items to help support the International Myeloma Foundation: colorful keychains and chandelier earrings of Swarovski crystals. Multiple Myeloma Awareness Jewelry The response has been great for the new garnet bracelet IMFer Kristi Difford has added to her line of beautiful custom bracelets to honor those who have joined the struggle against multiple myeloma. Check it out. Note: If ordering jewelry for holiday gift-giving, please have orders e-mailed, phoned or mailed to Kristi by December 14th, 2005. Dress Up Your Wine Bottles with Wine Vests These wine vests by Cathy Goetz make "two buck Chuck" look like Chateau Margaux. Just a Thought When you are wrapping your presents for the holidays, why not tie an Imagine Moving Forward - IMF Myeloma Bracelet onto the package as a way to increase awareness about myeloma and help fund the IMF's programs. In a way, by attaching the bracelet to your package, you are giving a multitude of gifts: the gift inside the package, the bracelet itself, and the gifts given to the many patients and caregivers and researchers the IMF supports with the funds it raises.

Help Us Help Others... As a non-profit organization, the IMF is completely dependent on the support of our members. Tax-deductible donations in honor of a friend or family member make great gifts and are a wonderful way to celebrate a special occasion. You can donate online or by calling the IMF at (800) 452-CURE. We sincerely thank you for your support.