Q. How fatal is multiple myeloma?
Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.
Multiple myeloma is an incurable, but treatable type of cancer that forms in white blood cells within the bone marrow. It is considered a fatal form of cancer because it can cause greatly reduced life expectancy, depending on the severity and characteristics of each individual's condition.
The average life expectancy for multiple myeloma patients ranges from 2 to 3 years following diagnosis. However, certain treatments have been seen to improve survival rates significantly. For example, one study found that a combination chemotherapy treatment resulted in a median overall survival rate of four years or more for 1813 multiple myeloma patients with relatively low-risk features. Another noted that those who received stem cell transplantation had an improved 5-year overall survival rate compared to those not receiving this intervention (53% vs 29%). In addition, newer targeted therapies show even greater promise for improving outcomes for certain subgroups of multiple myeloma patients.
Despite these positive trends in recent years, prognosis remains guarded as there are often periods during which the disease progresses despite treatment advances -known as “plateaus” which usually occur after initial remission and may be followed by secondary remissions or relapses into further cycles of active disease status. Additionally, further complications can arise due to drug resistance associated with some treatments -leading some researchers to recommend alternative approaches such as immunotherapy strategies against residual tumor cells and/or other novel agents directed against various signaling pathways within malignant plasma cells themselves as potential markers enhancing longevity among multiple myeloma sufferers.
Overall, it is accurate to say that medical breakthroughs have significantly improved patient outcomes for many cases involving Multiple Myeloma; however this devastating form of cancer still carries a grave risk making long-term management essential so help ensure an optimal quality of life until new discoveries become available through ongoing research initiatives worldwide towards finding a cure once and for all!