Informed Conversations: Navigating Multiple Myeloma With Your Family

Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson In the crowded conversation about health disparities within the Black community, there’s an urgent topic that deserves attention: multiple myeloma. This rare, incurable blood cancer forms in plasma cells, a type of blood cell that is critical to fighting infections. Each year, approximately 35,000 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the United States, and about 20% of all cases occur in Black people, disproportionately impacting the community with double the mortality rate occurring in Black patients compared to white patients. This disparity is largely attributed to delayed diagnoses and inequitable access to the arsenal of treatment options, along with a complex relationship toward the healthcare system. For most cancers, the Black community has the highest death rate and shortest survival rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. In an effort to eliminate these disparities, the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence created National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week (June 13–19). The theme, “Engaging the Generations,” emphasizes the role families can play in cancer diagnosis and throughout the treatment continuum, encouraging candid conversations along the way. Johnson & Johnson is encouraging more of these conversations through That’s My Word , a program...