Multiple Myeloma

How is multiple myeloma treated?

• Induction Phase: with the aim to reduce the amount of cancer cells in the bone marrow
• Consolidation Phase: with the aim of further deepen the response after induction therapy using treatments like an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant 
• Maintenance Phase

• Corticosteroids: Steroids can regulate the immune system and can control inflammation in the body. They are also very active against myeloma cells.
• Chemotherapy: There are many chemotherapy drugs that are used to eradicate myeloma cancer cells and prevent their growth. There are different group of chemotherapy drugs used to treat myeloma: proteasome inhibitors, alkylators, immunomodulatory drugs etc. 
• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy harnesses the power of your immune system to control myeloma. For example, monoclonal antibodies like daratumumab target a specific protein on the surface of cancerous plasma cells and make it easier for the immune cells to identify and kill them. 
• Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Stem cell Transplantation involves the substitution of diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. In most cases, the patient’s healthy stem cells are transplanted. Healthy blood-forming stem cells are collected from the patient by a process called apheresis and is stored in advance of the transplantation. During transplantation, high doses of chemotherapy drugs are then given to destroy the diseased bone marrow. This isfollowed by reinfusion of previously collected stem cells back into the blood which then home in on the bone marrow and start producing all blood and immune cells
• Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy or radiotherapy uses high-energy radiation (rays or particles) to kill or damage cancer cells. It is usually used to shrink localised collection of cancerous plasma cells that form a tumor and is commonly used in combination with chemoimmunotherapy.