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Blood cancers · free patient guide
Myeloma
Multiple myeloma
Haemato-oncology clinic
What it is
Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow. It causes bone damage, anaemia, kidney impairment and raised calcium, a combination that, taken together, is quite specific even though each symptom alone is not.
It is treated as a long-term condition managed in phases rather than a single course, with periods of treatment and periods of observation.
Myeloma is frequently diagnosed late in India because its symptoms, back pain, tiredness, kidney trouble, are extremely common and rarely attributed to a blood cancer.
Warning signs worth acting on
- Persistent back or bone pain, particularly with a fracture from minor injury
- Unexplained anaemia with tiredness
- Kidney function that is deteriorating without explanation
- Raised calcium on a blood test
- Recurrent infections
- Unexplained raised total protein on routine blood tests
How it is diagnosed
- Blood and urine protein electrophoresis and free light chains
- Bone marrow aspirate and biopsy
- Whole-body imaging for bone disease, plain X-rays alone are not enough
- Cytogenetics on the marrow sample
- Kidney function assessment
Cytogenetic risk stratification informs treatment intensity. Residual-disease monitoring is used to assess depth of response.
Is it inherited?
Not generally inherited, though a slightly increased risk in close relatives is recognised.
Genetic counselling & family risk →
Prevention & early detection
No established screening. An unexplained raised protein or persistent unexplained anaemia is worth investigating properly.
Treatment options
What may form part of a plan
Which of these apply to you depends on your stage, your pathology, your other health and what you want from treatment. That decision belongs at a tumour board, not on a website.
Chemotherapy
Drug treatment that acts on rapidly dividing cells throughout the body.
Targeted therapy
Medicines matched to a specific alteration found in your tumour.
Immunotherapy
Treatment that works on the immune system rather than directly on the tumour.
Stem cell & bone marrow transplant
High-dose treatment followed by restoration of the blood-forming system.
CAR-T cell therapy
Your own immune cells, collected, re-engineered and returned.
Radiotherapy
Targeted radiation to a defined area, planned in millimetres.
Clinical trials
Most Indian patients never learn a trial exists, because nobody is looking.
At KPCIRC
The pathway for this disease
- Bone protection from the start, not after the first fracture
- Kidney function monitoring and onco-nephrology input
- Pain management planned properly, because bone pain here is often undertreated
- Transplant-eligibility assessment early
- Infection prevention and vaccination planning
Support that matters most here
Take this with you
Questions to ask your own doctor
These work wherever you are treated. Print the page or take a photograph of this list.
- What is my cytogenetic risk group?
- Am I a transplant candidate, and when would that be decided?
- What is being done to protect my bones and my kidneys?
- What is the plan for pain control?
This page is not an emergency service. Severe breathlessness, chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, a high fever during chemotherapy, or a sudden change in alertness means going to your nearest emergency department now, not reading further.