Hello everyone. My connection to multiple myeloma is my mother just recently died of multiple myeloma after 11 months of tests, radiation, Revlimid, Velcade, steroids, blood transfusions, IV bone strengthening drugs and many hospitalizations. My heart and prayers go out to all of you. It is a very difficult disease to deal with.
My question is: Has anyone heard of a link between open heart surgery (coronary artery bypass grafts) and then, within a couple of years, being diagnosed with multiple myeloma?
My mother had a triple bypass when she was 80 years old and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at age 83. After her death, my sister ran into 2 different people who had a husband and mother who had undergone heart surgery and within 1 to 3 years later were diagnosed with either multiple myeloma or another blood cancer.
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Re: Multiple myeloma diagnosis post heart surgery
I am sorry to hear about your mother.
It is frequently the case that patients and caregivers look for links or reasons for the development of multiple myeloma. The simple answer is that we do not know what causes multiple myeloma. We do know that the rate of multiple myeloma increases with age (i.e., the development of the disease is age dependent). We do know that, for the most part, it is a spontaneous disease secondary to the accumulation of mutations (changes in DNA) as a result of the normal processes of B cell maturation (multiple myeloma is a disease of the most differentiated / mature B cells, called plasma cells). And these mutations in the context of the bone marrow lead to (in rare occasions) the survival of clones or subclones of malignant plasma cells leading to MGUS, smoldering multiple myeloma, and eventually active multiple myeloma.
A few exposures have been associated with multiple myeloma: high levels of radiation exposure (Nagasaki / Hiroshima levels), and, for our Vietnam-era folks, Agent Orange has been linked to the disease. Most recently, the younger first responders on 9/11 have seen a slight increase in the incidence of multiple myeloma. However, even in these cases, this is an association, not a direct demonstration of cause and effect.
A number of my patients ask about prior surgeries and the link to multiple myeloma. I have to tell them, as I tell you, that there has been no cause and effect demonstrated. It is a coincidence and effect of timing — both issues (open heart surgery and multiple myeloma) occur with greater frequency with increasing age.
It is frequently the case that patients and caregivers look for links or reasons for the development of multiple myeloma. The simple answer is that we do not know what causes multiple myeloma. We do know that the rate of multiple myeloma increases with age (i.e., the development of the disease is age dependent). We do know that, for the most part, it is a spontaneous disease secondary to the accumulation of mutations (changes in DNA) as a result of the normal processes of B cell maturation (multiple myeloma is a disease of the most differentiated / mature B cells, called plasma cells). And these mutations in the context of the bone marrow lead to (in rare occasions) the survival of clones or subclones of malignant plasma cells leading to MGUS, smoldering multiple myeloma, and eventually active multiple myeloma.
A few exposures have been associated with multiple myeloma: high levels of radiation exposure (Nagasaki / Hiroshima levels), and, for our Vietnam-era folks, Agent Orange has been linked to the disease. Most recently, the younger first responders on 9/11 have seen a slight increase in the incidence of multiple myeloma. However, even in these cases, this is an association, not a direct demonstration of cause and effect.
A number of my patients ask about prior surgeries and the link to multiple myeloma. I have to tell them, as I tell you, that there has been no cause and effect demonstrated. It is a coincidence and effect of timing — both issues (open heart surgery and multiple myeloma) occur with greater frequency with increasing age.
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Dr. Ken Shain - Name: Ken Shain, M.D., Ph.D.
Beacon Medical Advisor
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