Findings from a German retrospective study indicate that whole-body magnetic resonance imaging can help identify patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance who are at increased risk of progressing to symptomatic multiple myeloma.

The whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results show that almost one-fourth of the MGUS patients in the study had clearly defined (focal) lesions in their bone marrow.  These lesions, or areas of ab­nor­mal cells, were solely within the patients' bone marrows.  They were not lesions in the …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted at the Mayo Clinic indicate that autologous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion is an effective treat­ment option for multiple myeloma patients with advanced kid­ney disease.

The majority of patients (87 percent) responded to the treatment, with 40 percent achieving a complete response.  According to the researchers, this complete response rate is similar to those seen in other studies of stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion for myeloma patients with kid­ney disease.

However, the researchers found little evidence that …

Results from a recent study indicate that many myeloma patients are like­ly to suffer im­paired cog­ni­tive func­tion after their initial multiple mye­lo­ma therapy, and stem cell trans­planta­tion often causes further im­pairment.

Nearly half of the patients in the study had cog­ni­tive im­pair­ment, often referred to as ‘chemo brain,’ after receiving initial anti-myeloma therapy.  Half of the patients experienced further im­pair­ment of cog­ni­tive function at one month and again at three months following autologous (own) stem cell trans­planta­tion.

The study authors …

Findings from a recent study indicate that a history of certain in­fec­tions is as­so­ci­ated with an increased risk of a person eventually developing multiple myeloma.

The study is based on data for more than 15,000 U.S. myeloma patients and 200,000 people from the general U.S. population.  It did not include in its analy­sis in­fec­tions that myeloma patients had less than a year prior to their di­ag­no­sis.

The in­ves­ti­ga­tors found that people in the study who were eventually di­ag­nosed with multiple …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted at the Mayo Clinic in­di­cate that chromo­som­al abnormalities may influence which symptoms a multiple myeloma patient has at diagnosis.

For instance, the researchers found that newly diagnosed myeloma pa­tients with the chromo­some 14 translocation t(14;16) are more likely to have kidney damage, while patients with extra chromo­somes are more likely to have bone disease or anemia.

They also found that patients with t(14;16) who did not have kidney dam­age survived significantly longer (a …

Patients With Periodontitis May Be At Increased Risk For Developing Osteo­ne­crosis Of The Jaw  – Results from a small Australian trial suggest that multiple myeloma patients who receive bisphosphonates and experience periodontitis (inflammation or bleeding in their gums) may be at an increased risk for de­vel­oping osteonecrosis of the jaw. Osteonecrosis of the jaw is a condition that is associated with a loss of blood supply to the jaw, causing the jawbone tissue to die. It can occur in multiple …

Results from a recent retrospective study conducted in France indicate that long-term treat­ment with Revlimid plus dex­a­meth­a­sone is effective in delaying dis­ease progression in relapsed multiple myeloma patients.

Among patients treated with Revlimid (lenalidomide) plus dex­a­meth­a­sone (Dec­a­dron) for at least two years, almost all (96 percent) responded to treat­ment, with 74 percent achieving at least a very good partial re­sponse.

Patients who received treat­ment for at least three years were significantly more likely to have not yet …