Multiple Myeloma

Multiple Myeloma is a form of cancer which affects the plasma cells of the body, which are white blood cells. Multiple Myeloma, first described in 1848, is a disease “characterized by a proliferation of malignant plasma cells and a subsequent overabundance of monoclonal paraprotein.” To understand how Multiple Myeloma affects an infected person’s plasma cells, it helps to have a general understanding of how normal blood cells are formed and how they act. Most blood cells develop from stem cells, which can be found in bone marrow (soft material inside our bones – the “filling”). Stem cells mature into white blood cells, red blood cells, or platelets.2 The purpose of white blood cells is to fight off infection, while

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, is the disease that affects children the most and because of the abnormal cells that are immature white blood cells which cannot help the body fight infections cause children with the disease to often get infections and have fevers (National Cancer Institute, 2002, p. 1). The symptoms that the patient with ALL may have depend on the number of abnormal cells of the patient where exactly the cells collect. Children patients with ALL have low amounts of healthy red blood cells and platelets, which cause less oxygen to be carried through the body because of the lack of red blood cells. Patients at times may look pale, feel weak, and tired causing bleeding and bruising very easily because of their lack of enough platelets. This condition is called anemia. Anemia is very much common in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Fever, fatigue, bone or joint pain, tiny red spots under the skin called petechiae are a couple of symptoms that the disease ALL has. Headaches with, or without vomiting also may occur if patient happens to have abnormal cells collecting in the brain or spinal cord (National Cancer Institute, 2002 para. 2).

A 65 year old female with diabetes and asthma presented with subjective chills, lethargy, arthralgias, and myalgias lasting over 2 days. She mentioned having received the inactivated influenza vaccine 5 days back. Vital signs were stable apart from sinus tachycardia (HR 143/min). Labs, including CBC and BMP, were within normal limits except for baseline normocytic anemia (Hb 10.7 g/dl). Serum calcium was 10.8 mg/dl. She was observed for a day, and was discharged home with supportive treatment. She presented a day later with persistent flu like symptoms. Labs were significant for a serum calcium being above 22 mg/dl, normal renal function, normal total protein, albumin, ACE levels, clear urine with no albuminuria, low

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of disorders that occur when there is a disruption in the bone marrow’s ability to produce healthy blood cells. It is a rare condition that most often affects older adults. In some cases, there is a chance that MDS could eventually progress to leukemia. For that reason, it is sometimes called preleukemia. Some forms of the disorder have no obvious cause, while others appear as a response to chemical exposure or cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In addition, subjection to heavy metals increases the risk of experiencing MDS.

Symptoms of multiple myeloma can be difficult to detect in patients with beginning stages of this disease, but certain tests are used to diagnose patient. The exact cause of multiple myeloma is unknown. However, risk factors such as age and occupation can lead to determining a diagnosis. Treatment of multiple myeloma is inconclusive, but is used to prolong life or relieve pain of patients suffering from their condition. Perhaps as new information is discovered and science progresses, the cure for this degenerative disease can finally be

Osteoporosis is a progressive silent disease that affects the quality of the bone, due to the decrease in bone mineral density , the bone becomes more porous and fragile, and the risk of fracture will increase , osteoporosis has no signs or symptoms , and people may not know that they have the disease until their bone becomes so weak that a sudden strain, fall will causes a bone to break, , the fractures that related to the osteoporosis cause pain, Disability, reduce mobility, long-term disability and reduced quality of life . The recovery from these fractures is slow, rehabilitation is often incomplete and patients nearly have to hospitalize or even have to home nursing. the most common sites of osteoporotic fracture are Hip, spine, distal forearm, and proximal humerus .

Low blood counts are a key feature of myelodysplastic syndrome which is the reason for the many symptoms these patients experience. The three types of cytopenia that people with Myelodysplastic Syndrome experience are anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia which are all low blood cell counts of the three blood cells. Cytopenias can cause anemia, the inability to fight off infections, easy bruising, and spontaneous bleeding. This can be due to the lack of blood cells in the blood stream, but also from dysplasia of the blood cells from the disease. If the cell is deformed, it may not be able to provide the same function as a healthy cell, resulting in the same effect as having cytopenia. Myelodysplastic syndrome is a gradual process and is

Myelodysplastic syndromes occur when blood cells are misshapen and dysfunctional. These syndromes generally do not cause symptoms in the beginning, but as they progress the signs and symptoms make themselves known. Some symptoms include shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, pallor, petechiae, abnormal bleeding and bruising, and

blood disorders, such as hemolytic anemia (the rupture or destruction of red blood cells that lead to a decreased amount of red blood cells in your circulation, which leads to fatigue and weakness)

Multiple myeloma is blood cancer that starts in the plasma cells in bone marrow. Plasma cells are white blood cells that help your body fight infection by producing proteins called antibodies. When plasma cells grow out of control in the bone marrow, they no longer perform their intended function in the immune system, they form tumors in the areas of solid bone, and the growth of these bone tumors makes it harder for the bone marrow to make healthy blood cells and platelets. Multiple Myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in the United States and constitutes approximately 1 percent of all cancers. The age-adjusted death rate was 3.4 per 100,000 men and women per year, based on patients who died in 2005-2009 in the US. A plasmacytoma is tumor formed by a collection of aberrant plasma cells in a single location. Plasmacytomas may be an indication or precursor for multiple myeloma. This paper presents some highlights of the current approach for evaluating and treating plasmacytomas. I am writing about this problem because my father encountered a rare form of plasmacytoma last year that fortunately turned out to be an isolated occurrence with no indication of systemic disease.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by neoplastic proliferation of immunoglobulin-producing plasma cells. Many malignancies can mimic MM, however the concomitant existence of another primary malignancy alongside MM is exceedingly rare. We report the first case wherein MM and esophageal adenocarcinoma manifest concomitantly.

Myeloma is a cancerous disease whose cause is plasma cells, which are one of the four major components that make up blood in a human body. Manufacture of the plasma takes place in the bone marrow and the main function of the plasma is help the body fight infections. Multiple myeloma is another name for myeloma in fact it is the more recognized name. The plasma of a healthy human body is responsible for the production of antibodies, which fight disease-causing infections. The plasma of a diseased human body with myeloma causes the uncontrollable multiplication of these plasma cells. The myeloma affects these plasma cells to extent that they start to produce one antibody, which is nonfunctioning

Multiple myeloma is a haematological malignancy characterised by the suppression of osteoblastogenesis and the inability to form bone8. The inhibition of the Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) which is a key transcription factor responsible for osteoblast differentiation is largely implicated in multiple myeloma4. Runx2 stimulates the generation of the bone formation markers alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OCN) and collagen during early osteoblast differentiation9,10. Transgenic mice without the Runx2 gene exhibit a lack of osteoblast formation causing the arrest of both endochondral and intramembranous ossification11. The upregulation of bone resorption and a decrease in bone mass is a common feature of multiple myeloma, presenting clinically as lytic bone lesions12.

Forms of MPNs, including polycythaemia vera can evolve into these forms of myelofibrosis (Tonkin et al., 2012). But, with well-managed essential thrombocythaemia, the life expectancy of a patient is increased to 20 years after their diagnosis (Tonkin et al., 2012). The primary myelofibrosis is categorized by a proliferation of primarily granulocytic and megakaryocytic lineage cells with reductions in erythroid precursors, which cause problems in the white blood cell functions and normal clotting of blood (Geyer & Orazi, 2016). According to Ye, Chen, Zheng, Zhu, Fu, and Huang (2017), with one cycle of decitabine (a myelodysplastic treatment drug) the blasts in a patient’s bone marrow decreased to 0.5%. After ten cycles, the mutation in the JAK2 decreases from 60.63% (average patient) to 0.01% (Ye et al.,

Osteoporosis is often called “the silent disease” because there are no symptoms in the early stages of bone loss. As time progresses, the bones become weak and common signs and symptoms may include loss of height, bone fracture, back pain, a stooped posture, and a humped back known as dowager’s hump or kyphosis. Most people do not know that they have osteoporosis until they have a sudden bump, strain or fall that causes a bone to fracture (Lewis, p.1635). The most common type of fracture occurs in the bones of the vertebrae, forearm, femoral neck, and proximal humerus. Differential diagnosis for osteoporosis include osteoarthritis, osteomalacia or rickets, inadequate mineralization of existing bone matrix (osteoid), multiple myeloma, metastatic cancer, paget disease of bone, renal osteodystrophy (Papadakis & McPhee, para.2).