HEALTHY KAPPAS/HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Myeloma Is Twice As Likely To Strike African Americans Researchers are only beginning to understand why the cancer disproportionately affects this race. A t some point during their life, approximately 0.7 percent of men and women will be diag- Americans when they receive a timely diagnosis and proper treatment. And African Americans may have a biological tendency toward less aggressive forms
sity and a current member of the Atlanta Alumni chapter, is committed to empowering patients with knowl- edge about Multiple Myeloma and treatment options. He is part of the US Hematology/ Oncology Strategic Alliances team at Celgene Corpora- tion. Celgene is a preeminent global bio-pharmaceutical company. “When I learned that Multiple My- eloma is the number one hematologic cancer diagnosed in African Ameri- cans, that African Americans often are diagnosed with a less aggressive form, and when receiving the proper treatment African Americans may have just as good or slightly better out- comes than the general population; I knew this story had to be told,” stated Clark. He is the co-creator of the “Stand- ing in the Gaap” initiative. This awareness campaign has now part- nered with Kappa Alpha Psi’s ® Healthy Kappas/Healthy Communities. To- gether Kappa Alpha Psi ® and Celgene will engage the community to learn more about this disease and become empowered.
nosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of white blood cells. A disproportionate number of these diagnoses occur in African Americans; while African Ameri- cans represent approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population, they make up about 20 percent of myeloma patients. Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in the United States, but the most common among African Americans. “Multiple myeloma is often thought of as a disease impacting older individuals, particularly older white males,” Valerie Kobzej, the director of myeloma market- ing at Celgene, said. “But if you look at the data, African Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease.” To put it another way, take a million white Americans, and 75 men and 45 women will be diagnosed with myeloma. For African Americans, those numbers more than double to 151 men and 112 women. Moreover, African Americans are afflicted at a younger age — on average, they’re about five years younger than whites at diagnosis. Scientists don’t completely under- stand the reason for the racial discrep- ancy yet, but they have some ideas. People with the blood disorder called monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) have a higher risk for developing myeloma, and Af- rican Americans are more than twice as likely than other races to develop MGUS. Another study found that more than one-third of African Americans with these diseases carry the protein pP-7, an inherited risk factor for MGUS and myeloma. We believe it’s really important that African American patients already diag- nosed with myeloma know there is hope. The positive news for African Ameri- cans with myeloma is they can do just as well as, if not better than, white
of the disease. Unfortunately, Afri- can Americans are also more than 40 percent less likely to receive the type of care that white Americans receive. African Americans have also had smaller improvements in survival over the past 40 years than have white Ameri- cans. This disparity in survival may be due to problems accessing the best therapies. The myeloma burden and treatment gap among African Americans highlight the critical need for raising awareness and working toward equal access for treatments. It’s this sentiment that in- spired Celgene to launch their Standing in the GAAP initiative. “We believe it’s really important that African American patients already d iagnosed with myeloma know there is hope,” Kobzej said. Celgene launched the Standing in the GAAP Initiative to bridge the gaps in care for African Americans with Mul- tiple Myeloma. Through the initiative, which includes a Facebook page and other online resources, Celgene hopes to work with Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus to bring multiple myeloma to the forefront of research and care. The campaign aims to educate people about how myeloma affects African Americans, improve the quality of their care and ultimately improve survival rates. Learn more about the Standing the Gaap initiative on Facebook.
Standing in the GAAP
Anthony Clark is helping to raise awareness about African Americans with Multiple Myeloma. Clark, a 1988 initiate of the Alpha Iota of Kappa Alpha Psi ® at Morgan State Univer-
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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