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"Tuscaloosa, Ala. \u2013 University of Alabama Director of Athletics Bill Battle announced this morning that he will undergo the latest in a series of treatments for multiple myeloma, a condition he has been dealing with privately for more than two years. While the treatment will keep him away from his office for a few weeks, he will continue to direct the Department of Athletics while in daily communication with senior athletics officials.Battle will be undergoing a stem cell transplant under the supervision of Sagar Lonial, M.D., a world-renowned expert in the research and treatment of multiple myeloma, at The Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Center at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. Currently, Battle is in excellent health and his condition is not considered life-threatening. Dr. Lonial describes the disease as being in \"a good partial remission,\u201D noting that the procedure is the standard \u201Cnext step\u201D of treatment.Battle's transplant will be an autologous stem cell transplant, a transplant using his own stem cells. According to Dr. Lonial, autologous stem cell transplants create fewer side effects than many other treatments and are well tolerated.Battle's illness was originally detected in March of 2014 during a regularly scheduled executive physical at St. Vincent\u2019s One Nineteen Health and Wellness Center in Birmingham.\u00A0 At that time, a radiologist discovered a small tumor (plasmacytoma) on a spinal vertebra.In May of 2014, Battle received radiation therapy at The University of Alabama at Birmingham for the plasmacytoma and his condition was monitored for the next year by UAB's Medical Oncology Department. In May of 2015, a diagnosis of early stage one multiple myeloma was made at UAB.\u00A0 In June of that year, Battle received a consultation at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Orlowski. Dr. Orlowski recommended that he begin a chemotherapy regimen and, at some point a stem cell transplant using his own stem cells. Dr. Lonial later supported Dr. Orlowski\u2019s diagnosis that a stem cell transplant would be the appropriate treatment.In August of 2015, Battle began the first of three courses of chemotherapy at Manderson Cancer Center in Tuscaloosa under the care of Dr. David Hinton.\u00A0 That treatment put the cancer into what is presently described by his doctors as a good partial remission."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wvtm13.com/article/alabama-ad-bill-battle-set-to-undergo-stem-cell-transplant/3836516>