HOLY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF MYELOM
Bone pain, anemia, malaise, or lung infection may indicate Multiple Myeloma, which progresses quietly and is life-threatening. As with the treatment of lymphomas and leukemias, great advances are seen in the success of the treatment of multiple myeloma.
Myeloma can lead to paralysis and kidney failure
Multiple Myeloma is a malignant disease caused by the uncontrolled increase of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Plasma cells form a subgroup of white blood cells, their job is to produce proteins called “antibodies” that protect the body against microbes. Multiple Myeloma takes the second place among the malignant blood diseases in terms of its incidence, after the lymph node diseases called “lymphoma”. This disease can damage bones, causing pain, fractures, and even paralysis. Beyond that, Multiple Myeloma can cause kidney failure and disorders in the immune system. This makes the body vulnerable to germs.
Delay in diagnosis makes treatment difficult
Multiple Myeloma manifests itself with symptoms such as high sedimentation value in the blood, anemia, bone pain, infection. In order to diagnose the disease, some special biochemical studies in blood and urine are required. If these tests indicate that myeloma is or may be in question, it is necessary to examine the condition of the bones and the cells in the bone marrow.
High-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation provide success in treatment
Multiple Myeloma is the disease in which the most stem cell transplantation, that is, bone marrow transplantation, is performed in the world. In the past, stem cells were taken from the bone marrow, but now this method has been abandoned gradually, only the name remains. Stem cells are not collected from the bone marrow, but from the blood after a special drug treatment, in a simple and easy method for the patient, without the need for surgery. After a few cycles of chemotherapy, autologous stem cell transplantation is targeted in patients with suitable age and organ functions. After the stem cells are collected, high-dose therapy is administered and the stem cells are returned to the patient intravenously. This treatment significantly improves response rate, quality of response, and duration in Multiple Myeloma. In patients who cannot be transplanted with stem cells, treatment protocols including new drugs are applied.
Patients’ life expectancy is prolonged
Treatment; It is planned by considering the patient’s age, physical condition, organ functions and personal preferences. Some drugs under the name of “new drugs” and stem cell transplantation have provided much more successful results in this disease compared to the past and significantly increased the life span of the patients. After treatment, the situation in which all signs of the disease in the blood, urine and bone marrow completely disappear is called “complete response”. With the support of new drugs, the response rate in patients with autologous transplantation can be over 95% and the complete response rate can be over 70%.
Major advances in the treatment of Multiple Myeloma in recent years have positively and significantly affected the life course of this disease. New treatment protocols and new drugs are also a constant source of hope in this disease, as large-scale research continues.
In myeloma patients, investigating the biological properties of myeloma cells and determining which subgroup they belong to is of great importance in modern treatment.
In myeloma patients, osteoporosis and tissue loss in the bones can lead to bone damage and fracture if not treated.
