[SunnySkies]

Myeloma cells still in marrow: cause for concern?

by SunnySkies on Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:16 pm

I have finally stopped skirting the walls of this forum, bit the bullet and joined. There has been so much valuable information offered by fellow patients and some of the physicians, what a wonderful place to come when one is confused, afraid, or feeling lonely.

I was diagnosed in 2014 quite by accident, they did a PET/CT scan for kidney stones and found two large lytic lesions in my iliac. So, three months of Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone (RVD) treatment and then a transplant. I achieved a complete remission. Last fall, my bone marrow biopsy showed that although I only had a total of 5% plasma cells, of that 5%, 40% were myeloma cells. I should add that I am a nonsecretor, so bone marrow biopsies weigh heavily in trying to keep track of the disease.

Should I be concerned that I still have some myeloma cells in my bone marrow?

My oncologist doesn't currently have me on treatment of any sort.

Thank you!

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: Myeloma cells still in marrow: cause for concern?

by Nancy Shamanna on Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:30 am

Hi Sunny Skies, That is an interesting question about the percentage of plasma cells in the bone marrow. In normal bone marrow only 5% of cells are plasma cells. So you have a normal amount, but the fact that 40% of them are cancerous would be a concern. I found a paper which discusses this:

http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/124/21/5688


If the plasma cells exceed 10%, then the authors say there is more cause for concern, but I can understand you being worried! Do the doctors say that they are waiting for signs of a relapse such as anemia, skeletal issues, renal issues or excess calcium in the blood before calling this a relapse? Good luck and please let us know about your progress.