Tom Brokaw's Journey With Multiple Myeloma
- Journalist Tom Brokaw, 83, reveals in a new interview his experience with multiple myeloma has been tough. The suggests that the disease is what led him to take a step back from NBC, where he made his career, before his full retirement in 2021.
- Multiple myeloma is a rare type of blood cancer that hinders the body's ability to fight infections. It can cause weakness, dizziness, bone pain, and confusion among other symptoms.
- Advancements in multiple myeloma treatments have improved the lives of patients battling the disease.
- Chemotherapy drug Revlimid (generic name lenalidomide) has shown to improve survival for patients living with multiple myeloma.
- While the disease may not be curable, maintenance therapy like Revlimid can help patients maintain a good quality of life and keep the disease under control for longer periods of time.
As a former host of "Nightly News," veteran journalist Tom Brokaw, 83, became a familiar face to millions of TV news viewers. Like many journalists, Brokaw kept his personal life out of the news headlines. However, what was happening behind the scenes related to his health eventually led him to step back from the network where he made his career.
Brokaw is revealing more intimate details of his battle with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma in a new interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.”
Legendary journalist and anchor @tombrokaw talks about his dad "Red," his new book “Never Give Up: A Prairie Family's Story,” and his decade-long battle with incurable blood cancer in an emotional interview with his longtime friend anchor Jane Pauley, THIS SUNDAY. pic.twitter.com/mMi9c4DdHT
CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) June 23, 2023
Multiple myeloma is a rare type of blood cancer. It develops when white blood cells called plasma cells in your bone marrow grow out of proportion to healthy cells. The abnormal cells leave less room for healthy blood cells your body needs to fight infection.
Multiple myeloma can cause symptoms such as weakness, dizziness, bone pain, and confusion among other symptoms.
"I really had to give up my daily activity with NBC. You know, I had to walk away from them, as they were walking away from me. I just wasn't the same person…And so for the first time in my life, I was kind of out there, you know, in a place I had never been in my life," Brokaw says in the upcoming episode.
Brokaw fully retired from the network in January 2021 after 55 years, according to NBC.
When it comes to his cancer, he said it’s taken a toll.
"I've had a bad experience," Brokaw says on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
"I kept thinking bad things wouldn't happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can," he adds.
The Anchorman's Attitude Toward Cancer Treatment: ‘Bring It On’
After Tom Brokaw received his multiple myeloma diagnosis in 2013, he recalled he took it in stride.
"I didn't go into a meltdown of some kind. I was very cool about it. I was kind of in two parts: I was operating as a journalist human being, and the other part was kind of on the outside looking in saying, 'This is a big deal, you've got to stay cool'." Brokaw previously explained in a column.
Brokaw noted that he didn't want this diagnosis, and its treatment, to hold him back from the life he wanted to keep living.
"Bring it on," he said.
WATCH: Veteran journalist Tom Brokaw shares thoughts on the medical community and ways to improve the experience for patients.
When it came to his very public life on screen, Brokaw admitted, "I didn't want them to know," referring to his colleagues and news viewers.
He added, "I didn't want to become the object of some kind of pity, most of all. I didn't want to show up on the internet, 'Tom Brokaw has cancer'," he said.
The veteran journalist credited his family for supporting him throughout his cancer journey. He also said he went through "months of specialized treatment" to help him manage the incurable disease.
The Breakthrough Treatment for the Incurable Cancer
SurvivorNet sat down with Brokaw a while back in his Florida home, and he shared some details about his treatment, which included chemotherapy.
Brokaw received Revlimid (generic name lenalidomide), a breakthrough oral medication that has helped treat patients living with multiple myeloma. Standard doses of lenalidomide, in combination with other therapies, kill off myeloma cells.
Low doses of Revlimid are then used as maintenance therapy to help keep the immune system on alert to target the myeloma in case it reemerges within the body.
"The Revlimid thing for me has been … no side effects whatsoever," Brokaw told SurvivorNet.
WATCH: Journalist Tom Brokaw shares his multiple myeloma treatment.
"I think that I'm doing as well as I am in part because of Revlimid. I've been very fortunate, of course, in not having a reaction to a lot of the very powerful drugs that I am taking … my bomb is Revlimid on a daily basis," Brokaw continued.
The new treatment has shown great promise, giving multiple myeloma patients and their families hope.
"If you look at the most recent meta-analysis of clinical benefit from lenalidomide, you're seeing survival gains of two and 1/2 to three years as a median by virtue of its use. And that's not progression-free survival, that's overall survival," Dr. Paul Richardson, director of clinical research at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center previously told SurvivorNet.
"What we're realizing is that lenalidomide (Revlimid) is really conferring tremendous clinical benefit by virtue of its continuous use, and it's impacting on survival and progression-free survival in a remarkably substantial fashion," Dr. Richardson added.
Brokaw's experience with Revlimid as maintenance therapy is a testament to the importance of ongoing treatment and management of multiple myeloma. While the disease may not be curable, maintenance therapy can help patients maintain a good quality of life and keep the disease under control for longer periods of time.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you are facing a multiple myeloma diagnosis, you may be interested in the treatment Tom Brokaw has had success with. Here are some questions to help you begin the conversation with your doctor:
- What stage is my multiple myeloma?
- What are my treatment options?
- Am I a good candidate for Revlimid?
- What are the possible side effects of your recommended treatment?
- Who will be part of my healthcare team, and what does each member do?
- Can you refer me to a social worker or psychologist who can help me cope with my diagnosis?
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