Multiple myeloma is a widely unknown cancer, although it has impacted the lives of many over the years. It is a type of cancer that forms in the white blood cell called the plasma cell. These cells make the antibodies that help fight infections by recognizing and attacking germs. This disease causes cancer cells to build up in the bone marrow. The symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, loss or appetite, bone pain in the chest or spine, and frequent infections.

As well as mental fogginess, numbness or weakness in the legs, and excessive thirst. Treatments for multiple myeloma can include the following:

1. Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy is a drug treatment that focuses mainly on the specific abnormalities within the cancerous cells that allow the cells to survive. The targeted drugs block a substance in the myeloma cells that act to break down proteins. This causes the myeloma cells to die. Targeted therapy drugs are administered by way of a vein through the arm, or in a pill form.

2. Biological therapy
Biological therapy drugs use the immune system to fight the myeloma cells. These drugs enhance the cells of the immune system that identify and attack the cancer cells. The drugs are commonly administered by pill form.

3. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy kills fast growing cancer cells that include the myeloma cells. The drugs used for chemotherapy can be administered through a vein in the arm or in pill form. Chemotherapy drugs in high doses are generally given before a bone marrow transplant.

4. Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses beams of energy, like x-ray and protons, to damage the myeloma cells and stops them from growing. This type of therapy can be used to shrink myeloma cells in certain areas of the body, like when many abnormal plasma cells form a tumor that causes pain or destroys a bone.

5. Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids are used to regulate the immune system in order to control inflammation in the body and act against the myeloma cells. This drug can also be in a pill form or administered by way of a vein through the arm.

6. Bone marrow transplant
Bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant is a procedure wherein the diseased bone marrow is replaced with healthy bone marrow. Before a transplant, stem cells which are blood forming are collected from the patient’s blood. They are then given high doses of chemotherapy to destroy the bone marrow that is diseased. The stem cells are then infused into the body where they can travel to the bone and begin rebuilding the marrow.

The treatment options, or combination thereof, will be determined by whether or not the patient is a good candidate for a bone marrow transplant. This will also be dependent on the risk of the myeloma progressing, the patient’s age, and their overall health. This is a complex disease that requires a doctor’s perspective every step of the way. See your doctor at the first sign of any unexplained differences in your health, quality of life, and well being.