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Multiple Myeloma

What is multiple myeloma?

Multiple myeloma is cancer that begins in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. To understand multiple myeloma, it is helpful to know about normal blood cells.

Normal blood cells

Most blood cells develop from cells in the bone marrow called stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft material in the center of most bones.

Stem cells mature into different types of blood cells. Each type has a special function:

  • White blood cells help fight infection. There are several types of white blood cells.
  • Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues throughout the body.
  • Platelets help form blood clots that control bleeding.

Plasma cells are white blood cells that make antibodies. Antibodies are part of the immune system. They work with other parts of the immune system to help protect the body from germs and other harmful substances. Each type of plasma cell makes a different antibody.

Myeloma cells

Myeloma, like other cancers, begins in cells. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. In cancer, this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.

Myeloma begins when a plasma cell becomes abnormal. The abnormal cell divides to make copies of itself. The new cells divide again and again, making more and more abnormal cells. The abnormal plasma cells are myeloma cells. Myeloma cells make antibodies called M proteins.

In time, myeloma cells collect in the bone marrow. They may crowd out normal blood cells. Myeloma cells also collect in the solid part of the bone. The disease is called "multiple myeloma" because it affects many bones. (If myeloma cells collect in only one bone, the single mass is called a plasmacytoma.)

Multiple myeloma is the most common type of plasma cell tumor. This booklet does not deal with other kinds of plasma cell tumors. The Cancer Information Service (1-800-4-CANCER) can send information about those diseases.

Multiple myeloma is not bone cancer. Although multiple myeloma affects the bones, it begins in blood cells, not bone cells.

Bone cancer is a different disease. It begins in bone cells, not blood cells. Bone cancer is diagnosed and treated differently from multiple myeloma.

The NCI's fact sheet "Bone Cancer: Questions and Answers" provides information about bone cancer. This fact sheet and other materials are available from the Cancer Information Service (1-800-4-CANCER) and on NCI's Web site (http://www.cancer.gov).



Next: What are the risk factors for multiple myeloma? »



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