Multiple Myeloma is part of a spectrum of diseases labeled Plasma Cell Dyscrasia. Plasma cells are the cells responsible for forming antibodies against bacteria and foreign proteins. For reasons that are unclear, these cells lose their ability to respond to controlling signals from a hierarchy of immune cells. Plasma cells then divide and form abnormal proteins, which results in damage to the bone, the bone marrow, and/or other organs of the body.
Staging and classification of Multiple Myeloma
These tests can help confirm whether you have multiple myeloma or another condition. If tests indicate you have multiple myeloma, the results from these tests allow your doctor to classify the stage of myeloma. Stages range from Stage I (fewer myeloma cells) to Stage III (more myeloma cells) and can be further classified as A (normal kidney function) or B (abnormal kidney function) ? as multiple myeloma often causes damage to your kidneys.
The Cancer Process of Multiple Myeloma
Our concept of bone marrow cancer is that it is a multi-step process, involving multiple alterations to cells, which turn into cancer cells.
The plasma cells of multiple myeloma proliferate (multiply) in an uncontrolled way. Normal plasma cells also proliferate as they go from early immature forms to that of the fully functional cell, principally when they are stimulated to produce antibodies following exposure to an antigen. This cell-antigen interaction occurs outside the marrow (eg in lymph glands) and is controlled by chemicals called cytokines secreted by other cells.
Cells such as lymphocytes, bone marrow stromal cells, other plasma cells, and the cells which make and break down bone (osteoclasts and osteoblasts) all play a part in controlling this process and the consequent plasma cell proliferation but in a healthy person the controlling process works perfectly. In multiple myeloma, abnormal cells circulate and then settle in the marrow or other parts of the skeleton, where they proliferate.
General Features of Multiple Myeloma
Common to nearly all cancers are symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss and lack of energy.
About 10 per cent of Multiple Myeloma patients have no symptoms, but are diagnosed incidentally either following a health screen or as a result of tests undertaken as part of investigation for unrelated conditions.
