Well…Well…WELL!!! I’ve got a very interesting item for you today…

Many many many thanks to my blog reader Charlotte for this gem: goo.gl/hMsWov

The link will lead you to a case report about a 86-year-old patient (with IgA lambda smoldering myeloma) who went into partial remission after taking roxithromycin, an antibiotic, for just ONE MONTH. This happened last year in New Zealand.

The patient’s paraprotein, which had been increasing since he was diagnosed in 2008, dropped from 46 g/L to 20 g/L.

That’s a 57% decrease! Wowsie.

And another thing: in addition to his other markers remaining stable (calcium and creatinine, e.g.) in the four months after taking roxithromycin, his hemoglobin increased to 132…from 97. Another wowsie.

I also discovered something else: the antibiotic clarithromycin has been found to have anti-myeloma activity BUT only in association with other drugs (dexamethasone, etc.). That’s the difference between the two antibiotics, since roxithromycin appears to have “significant single-agent anti-myeloma activity.” That is, it goes after myeloma all by itself…

I’m not a big fan of antibiotics, that’s for sure (although when you need ’em, you need ’em!!!), but this case report has certainly given me food for thought…

A lot of food for thought…