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Myeloma | Information & Support for Myeloma | Bloodwise Jump to navigation Bloodwise tropical Search unendingly by typing Bloodwise Enter your keywords ResearchWhy we fund research Our research Clinical trials Funding for researchers Information & supportBlood cancer Leukaemia Lymphoma Myeloma Other thoroughbred cancers Healthcare professionals Publications Community Get involvedEvents & challenges In your zone Corporate partnerships Philanthropy Fundraising ideas Volunteers ShopWell-nighusNews Media centre Leadership team Our experts Campaigning Jobs at Bloodwise DonateGive in memory Gift in Will Donate by post LoginJoin us © Bloodwise 2018 Login Login Username * Password * Forgot password?Remember me New to Bloodwise? Sign upIncreasinglyDonate Select a cancer typeThoroughbredcancer Childhood leukaemia Childhood vigilant lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ch-ALL) Childhood vigilant myeloid leukaemia (Ch-AML) LeukaemiaVigilantlymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)Vigilantmyeloid leukaemia (AML)Vigilantpromyelocytic leukaemia (APL) Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) Hairy lamina leukaemia (HCL) Large granular lymphocytic leukaemia (LGLL) Plasma lamina leukaemia (PCL) T-cell vigilant lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) Lymphoma High-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (HGNHL) Hodgkin lymphoma Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (LGNHL) Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM) Myeloma Other conditions related to thoroughbred cancer Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) Monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) Solitary plasmacytoma (SP) Home › Myeloma Myeloma Myeloma is a type of thoroughbred cancer that happens when something goes wrong with the minutiae of plasma cells in your unorthodoxy marrow. Select a thoroughbred cancer typeThoroughbredcancer Childhood leukaemia Childhood vigilant lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ch-ALL) Childhood vigilant myeloid leukaemia (Ch-AML) LeukaemiaVigilantlymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)Vigilantmyeloid leukaemia (AML)Vigilantpromyelocytic leukaemia (APL) Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) Hairy lamina leukaemia (HCL) Large granular lymphocytic leukaemia (LGLL) Plasma lamina leukaemia (PCL) T-cell vigilant lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) Lymphoma High-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (HGNHL) Hodgkin lymphoma Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (LGNHL) Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM) Myeloma Other conditions related to thoroughbred cancer Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) Monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) Solitary plasmacytoma (SP) MyelomaMyeloma symptoms and diagnosisSigns and symptomsTests and diagnosisFurther tests Myeloma treatment and side effectsPlanning myeloma treatmentTreatmentSide effectsRelapseFollow-upPrognosis / Outlook Living with myelomaLooking without yourself emotionallyLooking without yourself physicallyComplementary therapiesWhere to get help and support Myeloma research and clinical trials Our support line 0808 2080 888 Call self-ruling in conviction to speak to our trained support team Get in touch Order your information booklets on Myeloma Order now Research we're doing virtually Myeloma Where we’ve invested, survival rates and quality of life have improved. Read increasingly Plasma cells are a type of B-lymphocyte white thoroughbred lamina that helps fight infection.More than 4,000 people find out they have myeloma each year in the UK. There are several variegated types, but each type falls into one of two groups:smouldering or asymptomatic myeloma, where you have no symptoms or tissue damage, orsymptomatic myeloma, where you have symptoms or tissue damage. What is myeloma?Myeloma is a type of cancer which affects plasma cells. A plasma lamina is a type of white thoroughbred lamina which produces antibodies to fight infection.When you have myeloma, too many unwont plasma cells are made in your unorthodoxy marrow (the spongy tissue inside your unorthodoxy where your thoroughbred cells are made). This moreover ways there isn’t unbearable room for normal red and white thoroughbred cells, which both play an important role in keeping you well.Usually the unorthodoxy marrow is unauthentic in a number of places virtually your body, which is why myeloma is sometimes known as ‘multiple myeloma’.Myeloma is not usually considered a curable disease, but it is very treatable. Many people with myeloma have a good overall quality of life.Watch Newton speak well-nigh life with myelomaAntibodies, paraproteins and myelomaTo understand myeloma, it can be helpful to understand antibodies.Plasma cells normally make antibodies which are made of two variegated kinds of protein: heavy villenage and light chains. An pathogen is shaped like a ‘Y’, with two ‘heavy chains’ and two ‘light chains’.We all have antibodies. When your soul is responding to infections, your plasma cells make five main types of pathogen (also known as immunoglobulins) with variegated heavy villenage tabbed G, A, M, D or E.You might hear them tabbed IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, and IgE. The light villenage are tabbed either κ (kappa) or λ (lambda).When you have myeloma you produce unwont antibodies instead, tabbed paraproteins. These antibodies can’t fight infections properly.You might hear a paraprotein moreover stuff tabbed a monoclonal gammopathy, an M protein or an M-spike.The presence of paraprotein can be an important sign of myeloma.What causes myeloma?When you’re diagnosed with any cancer, one of the first things you might think is: why me?You’re not alone: Nearly 5,000 people are diagnosed with myeloma every year in the UK.With myeloma, there are no well-spoken causes but there are some things which can increase your risk. Here’s what we do know:About one person in 200 will develop myeloma at some point in their life.Nearly 5,000 people are diagnosed with it each year in the UK.People with a condition tabbed MGUS are slightly increasingly likely to develop myeloma.AgePeople who get myeloma are usually in their 70s or older. It’s very rare for people under 40 to get myeloma. Myeloma doesn’t stupefy children.GenderMen are well-nigh one and a half times increasingly likely than women to develop myeloma; we don’t know why.Family historyA parent, child, brother or sister of a myeloma patient is two or three times increasingly likely to develop myeloma than other people. However, the risk for any person is still very low.Because of this, experts don’t recommend testing family members unless they’re stuff considered as donors for a stem lamina transplant.EthnicityPeople from an African-Caribbean preliminaries are roughly two times increasingly likely to get myeloma compared to people from other backgrounds; we don’t know exactly why.MGUSSometimes, small clones of plasma cells develop and produce a low value of paraprotein but you have no other features of myeloma. This is tabbed monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS).MGUS is quite a worldwide condition which affects well-nigh 5% of people in the UK. In itself it’s harmless and causes no obvious damage, so no treatment is needed and people aren’t routinely screened for it.People with MGUS have a higher risk of developing myeloma – virtually 1% of people with MGUS go on to develop myeloma per year.Anyone with MGUS will have regular thoroughbred and urine tests, to make sure it’s not progressing.Types of myelomaMyeloma is divided into two main groups:Smouldering or asymptomatic myelomaThis is where there are no symptoms or tissue damage.Symptomatic myelomaThis is where there are symptoms and/or tissue damage.Types of myeloma IgG or IgA myelomaA large majority of myeloma patients will have a type of disease tabbed IgG or IgA myeloma. If you’re healthy your soul will produce a similar number of each of the heavy uniting antibodies. In myeloma, too many of one type of pathogen is produced, meaning that the healthy ones can’t powerfully fight infection.IgG is the most worldwide type of myeloma – 66% of cases are this type.20% of patients will have type IgA, whilst the other types are very rare. However, all of these five types of myeloma are treated in the same way.Free light uniting myeloma (formerly known as Bence Jones myeloma)One in five people get this type. This is where the soul produces antibodies that are incomplete, so they may not have a Y shaped heavy chain, only the light uniting (either kappa or lambda).If you have this type of myeloma a special test known as the serum self-ruling light uniting assay, or Freelite assay, will be washed-up to snift the unwont light chains.Patients with this type of myeloma should receive guidance from their healthcare team well-nigh taking uneaten superintendency of their kidneys, considering these self-ruling light villenage can forfeiture them. These antibodies are referred to as ‘free light chains’ considering they are unattached to the heavy chains.Non-secretory myeloma and oligosecretory myelomaFewer than one in 100 people get true non-secretory myeloma. This is where the tumored plasma cells do not produce any paraprotein at all. Oligosecretory myeloma is when the plasma cells only produce very small amounts of paraprotein.Blood, unorthodoxy marrow and the immune systemBone marrow and how thoroughbred cells are madeA lot of thoroughbred cells are made in the unorthodoxy marrow (the soft material inside your bones) every second, considering your soul needs them.If everything’s working normally, your soul makes the right number of each type of lamina to alimony you healthy.All thoroughbred cells start off in your unorthodoxy marrow as a type of lamina tabbed a stem cell. Stem cells divide then and again, each time rhadamanthine increasingly like a mature, fully worked thoroughbred cell. One type of thoroughbred lamina created when stem cells divide is a white thoroughbred lamina tabbed a lymphocyte.There are lots of variegated kinds of lymphocyte, but the important ones to know well-nigh are B cells and T cells.B-cell lymphocytes divide to form plasma cells that produce proteins tabbed antibodies, which fight infections in your body. T-cell lymphocytes moreover play a number of supportive roles in our immune system.In myeloma it’s the plasma cells which are unauthentic – they make unwont antibodies.It moreover ways that too many plasma cells are made, so there’s not unbearable room in the unorthodoxy marrow for other thoroughbred cells to develop. This ways they can’t do the jobs they normally do to alimony you well.Your immune system is a network of cells, tissues and organs which protect your soul versus infections. Antibodies are a crucial part of the immune system. In myeloma the normal antibodies can be swamped by the production of an unwont antibody, so your body’s defences will often be low.This ways you might get:Bacterial infectionsThey could be increasingly severe than usual and last longer. Your healthcare team can let you know ways to reduce your risk.ShinglesShingles is an infection of a nerve and the skin virtually it. It can stupefy you if you’ve had chickenpox, plane if you had it a long time ago. You’re increasingly likely to get shingles if your immune system isn’t working well – for example if you have myeloma.Cold sores (herpes simplex virus)Because of your weakened immune system, you may be increasingly prone to getting a viral infection tabbed herpes simplex, which can lead to an outbreak of unprepossessed sores. If you develop these, you should ask your specialist for tablets to stop the unprepossessed sores spreading, considering over-the-counter creams will not be unbearable to tenancy them in people who have myeloma. Myeloma symptoms and diagnosis The most worldwide symptom surpassing a diagnosis is severe and long-lasting when pain. Myeloma can stupefy your muscles, unorthodoxy and kidneys. If this happens, you might wits nausea, loss of appetite, itchy skin, tiredness, breathlessness or unorthodoxy pain, among other symptoms. If your doctor thinks you might have myeloma, you’ll have some tests to personize and work out what stage it's at including thoroughbred tests to squint at your thoroughbred count and how well your kidneys and liver are working. Read increasingly Myeloma treatment and side effects The type of treatment you’ll have will depend on your test results and whether you had any symptoms when you were diagnosed. It usually includes a combination of chemotherapy, steroids, biological therapies and sometimes a stem lamina transplant. If you have asymptomatic or smouldering myeloma, you might not need treatment for some time. Read increasingly Living with myeloma There’s a lot of support you – and those tropical to you – might need if you’ve been diagnosed with myeloma. As well as medical information well-nigh your condition, other information will be important – such as how to tell people, how to squint without yourself emotionally and physically and practical translating well-nigh things like finances. Read increasingly Myeloma clinical trials and research Although the outcome for people with thoroughbred cancer continues to improve, there's still a long way to go to modernize treatments and quality of life for people unauthentic by thoroughbred cancer.Our researchers are making discoveries that will have a positive impact for people with myeloma. Read increasingly Got a question well-nigh thoroughbred cancer?  Contact our Support Line Team on 0808 2080 888 (Monday-Friday 10am-4pm) or support@bloodwise.org.uk. 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