Weei/nesn Jimmy Fund Radio-telethon

After blood work results revealed a low white blood cell count, Deidre was referred to a hematologist/oncologist. They ruled out an autoimmune disorder as the potential cause, but discovered SMM, a pre-blood cancer. From there, she met with Dr. Ghobrial at the Center for Prevention of Progression at Dana-Farber in July of 2022 and learned about an immunotherapy clinical trial. The drug works to fight myeloma cells before they become too prevalent in the body. Deidre started treatment in August of 2022, stayed in the hospital for 5 days, and hassince had weekly treatments, then every other week, to now monthly. She receives asubcutaneous injection in the abdomen and will complete the clinical trial in one more year. She describes Dr. Ghobrial as a trailblazer, treating patients early when they have a precursor disorder to try to prevent disease progression into multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a relatively uncommon cancer. In the United States, the lifetime risk of getting multiple myeloma is 1 in 132, or