Two members of NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center were among a panel of multiple myeloma experts assembled by Patient Power to discuss highlights from the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. Gareth J. Morgan, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of multiple myeloma research, and Faith E. Davies, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Clinical Myeloma Program, discuss what people with multiple myeloma should know about potential vaccines for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and receiving treatment during the pandemic, clinical trial results, side effects of treatment, and more.

“Sometimes I’ve come away from an ASH meeting and there’s been one take-home message, whereas this year I’ve heard data in each of those areas that’s really made me think, ‘Wow, we’re making so much progress,’” Dr. Davies says. “And it’s not just progress in, ‘Oh golly, 10 years’ time,’ it’s progress that we can see in the next couple of months. It really is making a big difference.”

Dr. Morgan, who has seen many advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma during his career, says he is “tremendously hopeful.”

“I think we’ve cured small percentages of patients previously, but the percentage of people cured is going to really change,” Dr. Morgan says. “And it’s not 5 years, it’s not 10 years, the next 2 years will see the introduction of these agents upfront with the aim of cure.”

Watch more on Patient Power.