Guido Tricot, M.D., hematologist and director of the Utah Blood and Marrow Transplant and Myeloma Program
What is Multiple Myeloma?
• Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, a white blood cell present in bone marrow.
• In multiple myeloma, a group of abnormal plasma cells (myeloma cells) multiplies to an abnormally high level, occurring in multiple bone marrow sites in the body. The result can be erosion of the bones and kidney problems. The disease also interferes with the function of bone marrow and the immune system, which can lead to anemia and increased risk of infection.
The Statistics
• There are at least 7 different types of the disease with a different outcome. Chromosome studies and gene array analysis help doctors understand a patient’s particular case.
• The five-year survival rate is 32 percent, one of the lowest of all cancers, when conventional treatments with or without the newer drugs are given.
• About 16,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease each year. An estimated 13,500 will die this year from it.
• Two-thirds of people diagnosed with multiple myeloma are over 65. It is uncommon in people under 40, but more cases are being diagnosed at an earlier age. Men are 50% more likely to develop the disease than women.
Symptoms & Signs
• Bone pain. Most patients feel it in their back or ribs, but it can be anywhere.
• Fatigue
• Anemia
• Recurrent infections
Treatment
• Drug therapy, the most common being chemotherapy
• Stem cell transplantation
• Local radiotherapy
Revolutionary treatment
• Dr. Tricot offers an intensive chemotherapy treatment coupled with two (tandem) autologous stem cell transplants. This involves collecting the patient’s own healthy bone marrow cells beforehand, then giving a round of high dose chemotherapy followed by re-infusion of patient’s own stem cells to secure a rapid recovery of white cell count and platelets. This treatment is repeated a second time and followed up with two years of maintenance treatment.
• The length of the treatment and the intensity kills the most myeloma cells possible, giving patients a better chance at responding to drug treatments and putting 80 percent of patients into remission. Our outcome data predicts that 50% of patients who receive such an intensive treatment with tandem autologous transplants, will survive more than 10 years, while patients who receive only the conventional chemotherapy treatment live an average of 2 ½ - 3 years.
For more information, please contact the Myeloma Program at (801) 587-4500 or visit http://www.healthcare.utah.edu/.
