52 April 25 • 2019
jn

ELIZABETH KATZ SPECIAL TO THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 
Seize the Day

Woman thrives with chronic blood-related cancer thanks to clinical trial, treatment advances.

B

arbara Robins, 75, of Franklin has 
lived a full life, working as a finan-
cial adviser while also keeping 
herself in optimum health and enjoying 
her friends, travel and art. Because she’
s 
kept herself so healthy and active, a 
diagnosis of multiple myeloma in 2015 
stopped her in her tracks.
“It was completely a surprise,
” she said. 
“My internal medicine doctor saw that 
there was something off in my blood 
counts. I had a bone marrow biopsy and 
I expected to be fine.
”
Though she had no physical symp-
toms, her doctor discovered multiple 
myeloma — a cancer of the blood plas-
ma.
“It was total grief,
” she said, adding 
that she had never been diagnosed with 
a cancer and had, in fact, years ago 
volunteered to be on a bone marrow 
registry to help others who might need a 
bone marrow transplant. 
“I never expected to be diagnosed 
with this,
” she said.
Robins, who is Jewish and a member 
of Congregation T’
chiyah in Oak Park, 
had her bone marrow transplant at the 
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute 
in Detroit. She describes the procedure 
as something that went well but was not 
without its attendant worries.
“I had the transplant and all I did was 
worry about dying,
” she said, “but if you 
spend your days worrying, you’
re not 
living. Coping with cancer has taught 
me to live in the day and not think about 
what might happen.
”
Today, Robins sees Jeffrey Zonder, 
M.D., the leader of the Multiple 
Myeloma Team at Karmanos. She is cur-
rently on a clinical trial for her disease. 
“I learned about the clinical trials 
available,
” she said. “I felt it was my 
chance to be on the best and newest 
drugs. I persevered. It’
s working very 
well for me. Being on a clinical trial, I 
can help other people and I can help 
myself.
”
Zonder said that substantial progress 
has occurred in the treatment of multi-
ple myeloma. Patients with the disease 

are living long and full lives while being 
monitored by an oncologist. 
“The average survival for myeloma 
patients has tripled since I started prac-
ticing oncology around 20 years ago,
” he 
said. “One of the reasons is the availabil-
ity of new drugs. Another reason is the 
use of maintenance therapy — 
lower-dose therapy given on a continu-
ous basis to maintain disease control that 
is obtained initially with full-intensity 
treatment regimens.
“I have many multiple myeloma 
patients in my practice who are more 
than 10 years from the time of diagnosis 
and a few who are more than 20 years.
”
Zonder added that part of his job is 
to meet with patients participating in a 
clinical trial as part of their treatment. 
 
“Clinical trials are almost always 
among the options available to myelo-
ma patients treated at the Karmanos 
Cancer Institute,
” he said. “Sometimes, 
a trial with a promising (therapeutic) 
agent may represent the best option for a 
patient. Patients generally participate in 

clinical trials to gain access to promising 
therapies, but, at the same time, they are 
making a major contribution to medi-
cine, since well-designed clinical trials 
are what advance the field as a whole.
”
In addition to participating in the 
clinical trial, Robins attends the Women’
s 

Support Group at Karmanos’
 Weisberg 
Cancer Treatment Center in Farmington 
Hills. It is a support group open to all 
cancer patients, not just those being 
treated at Karmanos.
Zonder said getting involved in a sup-
port group is beneficial for patients liv-
ing with a chronic disease like myeloma. 
“It is particularly helpful to be able to 
talk about a new treatment with some-
one else who has already had it,
” he said.
Robins said that taking part in the 
support group has been “profound.
” 
“It’
s a beautiful thing to see people 
gain hope from the group as they live 
with cancer,
” she said. “Being part of the 
support group has been an important 
part of my experience.
”
Today, Robins continues to work as a 
financial adviser and makes time for the 
activities she enjoys, including traveling 
to see friends and collecting art.
 “I’
ve accomplished a lot in my life,” 
she said. “I would like to continue liv-
ing my life and being the best person 
I can be.” ■

health

Free Public 
Info Session

Jeffrey Zonder, M.D., leader of the 
Multiple Myeloma Team at the Barbara 
Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, will hold 
a free public education session at 5:30 
p.m. Monday, May 13, at Karmanos’
 
Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center in 
Farmington Hills. He will discuss recent 
advances in the management of mul-
tiple myeloma, including the use of 
antibody-based therapy, new disease 
maintenance options and new thera-
pies, including the use of CAR-T cells, 
which mobilize a patient’
s own immune 
system to fight the disease. To RSVP for 
the session, call Kathleen Hardy, oncol-
ogy social worker at Karmanos, at (248) 
538-4712.

Dr. Jeffrey Zonder and Barbara Robins

TIMOTHY J. HAUNERT

