Multiple Myeloma Causes, Symptoms, Staging, Treatment and Diagnosis on MedicineNet.com

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Multiple Myeloma

Weight Gain & Cancer Risk

Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Could weight gain increase your risk for multiple myeloma? Excess weight is a known risk factor for many chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. Obesity has also been linked an increased risk for developing some cancers. To clarify the effects of weight gain on cancer risk, researchers in 2007 conducted an analysis of many studies reported in medical journals that describe 282,137 cases of cancer. The researchers wanted to see if weight gain had an effect on the risk for certain cancer types.

In particular, the researchers looked at the risk of cancer associated with a weight gain corresponding to an increase of 5 kg/m² in body mass index (BMI). In terms of actual pounds gained, a man with a normal-range BMI of 23 would need to gain 15 kg (33 lbs.) of weight, while a woman with a BMI of 23 would need to gain 13 kg (28.6 lbs.) to correspond to an increase of 5 in the BMI.

The results, published in the Lancet in February 2008, revealed that weight gain is positively associated with the risk of developing a variety of types of cancer as described below.

For women, a weight gain corresponding to an increase of 5 in the BMI resulted in a significant increase in risk for developing four cancer types:

esophageal adenocarcinoma (double the risk),
endometrial cancer (slightly more than double the risk),
gallbladder cancer (slightly more than double the risk), and
kidney (renal) cancer.

In women, a weaker but still positive increase in cancer risk with weight gain was demonstrated for the following cancer types:

Learn how weight gain increases one's risk for other forms of cancer »

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What is multiple myeloma?

Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer. Cancer is a group of many related diseases. Myeloma is a cancer that starts in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. It's the most common type of plasma cell cancer.

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 job:

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. In cancer, new cells form when the body doesn't need them, and old or damaged cells don't 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. These abnormal plasma cells are called myeloma cells.

In time, myeloma cells collect in the bone marrow. They may damage the solid part of the bone. When myeloma cells collect in several of your bones, the disease is called "multiple myeloma." This disease may also harm other tissues and organs, such as the kidneys.

Myeloma cells make antibodies called M proteins and other proteins. These proteins can collect in the blood, urine, and organs.