Steamboat Pilot & Today | Steamboat oncologist part of successful clinical research team
While helping care for cancer patients in Steamboat Springs for 19 years, oncologist and hematologist Dr. Robert Rifkin has also participated in research that contributed to a new treatment for blood cancer patients around the world. In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of the multiple myeloma blood cancer treatment drug called Blenrep for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Rifkin was one of multiple clinical investigators involved in the three‑year DREAMM-7 study sponsored by drug company GSK that led to the development of the new drug. Multiple myeloma is the third most common form of blood cancer globally and is considered treatable but not curable, Rifkin said. During an interview at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center last week, the oncologist said the most important development throughout his long research and treatment career is the increase in the median survival for multiple myeloma patients from 1.5 years to 20 years.