Kanser darah
Multiple Myeloma
What
is Multiple Myeloma?
Multiple myeloma
refers to a malignant tumor in hematological system, originating from plasma
cells (a type of white blood cell generated in the bone marrow). Normal plasma
cell is responsible for producing antibodies which can fight against infection,
while malignant plasma cell---- myeloma cell proliferates in great numbers in
the bone marrow, resulting in disorder of patients’ life, caused symptoms such
as anemia, bone pain, fracture, decreased immunity, hypercalcemia, proteinuria,
renal inadequacy, etc.
What
is the incidence of multiple myeloma?
Every year, there
are about two out of ten thousand people diagnosed with multiple myeloma which
is believed to be the second common malignant tumors arising from blood.
It is more commonly
seen in the elderly and 50-65 years old is the high incidence age, but age of
onset trends to be younger in recent years.
Men have higher
incidence of multiple myeloma than women, and the ratio is 1.6:1. With age
increasing, the incidence of multiple myeloma can also rise, which has brought
more and more harm to people’s lives and lowered their quality of life, thus
multiple myeloma has become a malignant hematological tumor that people cannot
neglect.
Besides, the
occurrence of multiple myeloma has certain relation to race, which indicates
that the incidence for black people is slightly higher.
What are the causes
of multiple myeloma?
It is still not
clear what cause multiple myeloma, but it may be related to ionizing radiation,
chronic antigenic stimulation, herpes virus infections associated with EB virus
or Kaposi's sarcoma. In addition, it may also be associated with a number of
cell factors, for example IL-6 which is the growth factor of multiple myeloma.
What
are the symptoms of multiple myeloma?
Misdiagnosis rate of
multiple myeloma reaches up to 40% to 50%, so the following are symptoms caused
misdiagnosis:
Infection: patients
are prone to develop respiratory tract infection or urinary tract infections.
In advanced stage, infection is one of the main causes of death.
Anemia: it can be
caused because the normal function of bone marrow in patients with multiple
myeloma is restrained.
Skeletal symptoms:
bone pain, local mass, fracture and even paraplegia, etc.
Hypercalcemia
vomiting, weakness, confusion of consciousness, polyuria or constipation, etc
can appear.
Blood
hyperviscosity: dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, and sudden occurrence of
consciousness disturbance, numbness of the fingers, etc can be caused.
Renal inadequacy:
patients are often accompanied by renal inadequacy when being diagnosed.
What
are the diagnostic methods of multiple myeloma?
Based on clinical
findings, nearly two thirds of patients have been in advanced stage at the
first time of diagnosis and many patients had been misdiagnosed before due to
going to the inappropriate departments.
Experts from Modern Cancer Hospital
Guangzhou remind you that when those symptoms such as bone pain,
anemia, renal inadequacy, repeated infections appear, you should go to the
department of hematology for check, thus early detection can effectively
control the further development of your condition.
Patients who are
highly suspected of multiple myeloma should timely carry out examinations such
as tests of immunoglobulin and Bene Jones protein (BJP), X-ray and bone marrow
examination.
Multiple sites of
X-ray examination can do a significant help on diagnosis, through which,
destruction area of multiple circular bones in different size (especially the
skull, ribs, vertebrae, and pelvis) can be found.
When necessary,
MRI, CT can be done. MRI examination can help to judge whether
there is spinal cord compression; CT examination is conducive to display extramedullary
lesions. Sometimes, a wide range of osteoporosis can be the only one X-ray
finding for myeloma. In addition, confirmation of diagnosing multiple myeloma
needs multiple sits of puncture or bone marrow biopsy.
Treatment
methods for multiple myeloma
Combination of
Chinese and Western medicine: it is the first choice of multiple myeloma treatment.
During chemotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine can be adopted to enhance the
effectiveness of chemotherapy, decrease the toxic side effects of chemotherapy,
recover hematopoietic function of bone marrow, and improve immune function.
During this period, the role of traditional Chinese medicine is to continuously
attack myeloma cells, destroy residual myeloma cells so as to avoid their
regenerations. However, during chemotherapy, orally taking of traditional
Chinese medicine is not applicable to patients with serious gastrointestinal reactions,
so Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou adopts injection.
Chemotherapy: it is
a conventional therapy for multiple myeloma.
Radiotherapy: it is
less used, while patients with localized myeloma, localized bone pain and
symptoms of spinal cord compression are applicable to it.
Family nursing
methods for patient with multiple myeloma
Rest: patients can
do appropriate activities, but never do strenuous exercise, preventing falls
and bruise.
Bed: in order to
prevent pathologic fracture, patient should sleep on the hard bed, so elastic
bed should be avoided to use.
Diet: food should be
high in protein, rich in vitamins and digestible. Patients with renal
dysfunction should be given low sodium, low protein diet, in order to reduce
the burden on the kidneys. If hyperuricemia and hypercalcemia occur, patients
should be encouraged to drink more water and daily urinary volume should be
maintained above 2000ml, so as to alleviate their clinical symptoms.
Mental guide: giving
patients more love and care, helping them face up to the reality, alleviating
their anxieties, encouraging them to face their conditions positively.
How does myeloma start?
Multiple myeloma is a cancer
of certain cells of the bone marrow called plasma cells. ... Multiple myeloma features
abnormal proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow, destructive bone
lesions, and the production of abnormal proteins, specifically antibodies.
Multiple myeloma is also referred to as myeloma.
Does multiple myeloma cause muscle weakness?
If myeloma weakens the bones
in the spine, they can collapse and press on spinal nerves. This can cause sudden
severe pain, numbness, and/or muscle weakness. ... This
damage can lead to weakness and numbness. In some patients,
large amounts of myeloma protein can cause the
blood to “thicken.”
What is IgA kappa multiple myeloma?
Normal plasma cells help to defend the body
against infection by producing antibodies. ... In myeloma, all the
abnormal plasma cells make the same antibody. Therefore, the myeloma can
be classified by the type of light and heavy chains produced, such as IgG kappa,
IgG lambda, IgA kappa, or IgA lambda, etc.
Kappa Light Chain Multiple Myeloma Treatment. Multiple myeloma is
a rare form of cancer that begins in the bone marrow, when abnormal plasma
cells accumulate and crowd out healthy blood cells. Healthy blood cells produce
antibodies that help to fight infection. ... One type of myeloma is Kappa
light chain myeloma.
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is
the most common of a spectrum of diseases called plasma cell dyscrasias. ...
Typically, IgG and IgA MGUS progress to MM, IgM MGUS
progresses to WM or other lymphoproliferative disorders, and light-chain MGUS
is the precursor of light-chain MM.
Does multiple myeloma show up in blood tests?
The following tests may be
used to diagnose multiple myeloma: Blood and urinetests. Myeloma cells
often secrete the antibody monoclonal immunoglobulin, known as M protein. ...
In multiple myeloma, when the cancer protein level is up,
the normal antibody levels are down.
Does bone marrow transplant cure multiple
myeloma?
Stem Cell Transplant for Multiple Myeloma. In
a stem cell transplant, the patient gets high-dose chemotherapy to
kill the cells in the bone marrow. ... Stem cell transplant is
commonly used to treat multiple myeloma. Before the transplant,
drug treatment is used to reduce the number of myeloma cells
in the patient's body.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.