Highlights of our recent First International Patient and Physician Summit on Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia include an announced merger of the RFW and the Waldenström's Cancer Fund (WCF), the awarding of the 2001 RFW research grants, and the honoring of Arnie Smokler, a pioneer in WM fundraising and research efforts.

The conference, held Nov. 9 - 11 in Boston, also featured several informative physician sessions highlighting new developments in research and treatment. Use the links below or on the left side of this page to review summaries and transcripts of speakers' remarks. Special thanks to James Berg for assistance in compilation of the physician session summaries.

- Conference Overview and Report, Anne Mann
- Announcement of RFW/WCF merger, Dick Mann
- Life with WM, Harriet Mayor Fulbright

Opening Session
- Defining Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Steven Treon, MD
- Macroglobulinemia, Marvin Stone, MD

Session One: Nucleoside analogue drugs (Clarabine and Fludarabine) in the treatment of WM
- Nucleoside analogue therapy in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Meletious A. Dimopoulos, MD
- Fludarabine in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Veronique Lablond, MD
- Novel drug combinations with nucleoside analogues in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Donna Weber, MD

Session Two: Emerging data on Thalidomide for the treatment of WM
- Targeted therapy for the plasma cell malignancies (Multiple Myeloma and Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia), Kenneth C. Anderson, MD
- Thalidomide therapy in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Meletious A. Dimopoulos, MD
- Biaxin, low dose Thalidomide and Dexamethasone are highly active in Multiple Myeloma and Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Morton Coleman, MD

Session Three: Novel approaches to the treatment of WM
- Monoclonal antibody therapy for the treatment of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Steven P. Treon, MD
- Radioimmunotherapy for the treatment of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Christos Emmanouilides, MD
- Antisense therapy for the treatment of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Stanley R. Frankel, MD
- High dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation for the treatment of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Nikhel Munshil, MD

Session Four: Bing Special Lecture
- Novel therapeutic approaches to the therapy of IgM mediated Neuropathies, Todd D. Levine, MD

Session Five: Case histories
- Physician presenters offer opinions on six WM case histories

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