SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Myeloma Crowd™, a division of the CrowdCare Foundation, today announced the launch of a new study to identify correlations between psoriasis and multiple myeloma. Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease of the skin and multiple myeloma is a rare blood cancer in which the cancer has escaped the immune system.
Participants will join the study via the HealthTree® platform, a new online tool that helps multiple myeloma patients find their best myeloma treatments and accelerate research toward a cure. There are currently more than 4,500 myeloma patients registered to HealthTree.
“This study demonstrates the importance of HealthTree as a tool for patients to connect with opportunities that could help them directly and accelerate a cure,” said Myeloma Crowd founder and myeloma patient Jenny Ahlstrom. “HealthTree has been designed as a model for curing disease by leveraging the crowd, starting with myeloma with the intent of expanding to other cancers and beyond.”
Research shows that multiple myeloma growth and bone damage can occur through activity of the interleukin-17 pathway. IL-17 is also a known treatment target in psoriasis, with several anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibodies currently FDA-approved as psoriasis therapy. Other joint cytokines and targets may be applicable.
Dana Farber Cancer Institute researchers performed initial work assessing the utility of anti-IL-17 psoriasis mediations to treat multiple myeloma in mouse models. Further research is needed to identify possible connections between the two diseases.
The Myeloma Crowd invites all multiple myeloma patients with psoriasis to join this important study by registering in HealthTree and adding their psoriasis diagnosis to their full health profile.
HealthTree was developed by Myeloma Crowd founders Jenny Ahlstrom, who is also a former Systems Engineer for IBM, and her husband Paul Ahlstrom, an investor and entrepreneur. HealthTree is free for myeloma patients.
To join the psoriasis/myeloma study, create a patient profile on www.healthtree.org. Please note if you have psoriasis in the Full Health Profile and choose to join study by clicking the Accelerate Myeloma Research tile and selecting Yes on the Psoriasis survey question.
About Myeloma Crowd/CrowdCare Foundation
The Myeloma Crowd is a division of the CrowdCare Foundation, a patient-driven 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Myeloma Crowd provides patient education, advocacy and research funding for multiple myeloma. www.myelomacrowd.org.
SOURCE Myeloma Crowd: CrowdCare Foundation