“Multiple myeloma can be asymptomatic, but it becomes symptomatic when there is organ damage or other abnormalities, including renal insufficiency, elevated calcium, anemia, and bone disease.

The majority of patients have bone pain.  Anemia typically occurs either because of renal failure or infiltration of the bone marrow by myeloma cells.” 

 

According to a dictionary, a Myeloma = A malignant tumor formed by the cells of the bone marrow. Multiple Myeloma?

“Multiple myeloma (MM) is a fatal, malignant B-cell neoplasm characterized by uncontrolled, destructive growth of mutated plasma cells within the bone marrow (BM). Patients over age 65 are most commonly affected by this disease and, as indicated by its name, MM is characterized by dissemination of multiple tumor cells throughout the BM. A mnemonic sometimes used for the common MM pathologies is CRAB: C (calcium, elevated), R (renal failure), A (anemia), B (bone lesions). Additionally, a hallmark of MM is heterogeneous chromosomal aberrations and numerous mutations in a range of genes, both of which make the disease very difficult to target therapeutically” Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016.

Multiple myeloma is a treatable mature B-cell malignancy.

 

Reference

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016 Jan; 1364(1): 32–51. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4806534/

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