52 April 25 • 2019
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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