What a great start to the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. We arrived on Friday afternoon, had dinner and a planning session, and tried to go to bed early. Saturday morning always starts with the International Myeloma Working Group breakfast at 6:30 a.m. We are simply there to observe, and all info shared here is a sneak peek into what will be presented during the coming days. And, it is the “who’s who” of myeloma doctors. This is probably my favorite part of ASH. I still get a little starstruck! After that, ASH officially starts and we are off to the races!
One of the many things I learned on Saturday was very interesting to me personally. I have been on Darzalex (daratumamab ) for 3.5 years. The Dara can give its own m-spike. So your SPEP test can have 2 m-spikes. How do you know which is yours and which is the Dara? I learned that there is a test that can eliminate the interference from Dara so you will know your true M-spike. I look forward to talking with my doctor about this test.
Just to give you some perspective on how large this meeting is, here are some numbers. Approximately 32,000 attendees. A very low number of virtual attendees this year (around 3,000-4,000). Most want to be in person again. Before the meeting, 362 trucks delivered over 2.1 million pounds of materials to San Diego for the meeting. Next year’s meeting will be back in San Diego! If I am fortunate enough to be chosen to attend ASH 2024, I will know my way around the venues!