Adapted for the Canadian edition by Daniel E. Bergsagel, MD, CM, DPhil
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cell, a type of B lymphocyte responsible for producing antibodies that take part in the immune response. A treatable but rarely curable disease, multiple myeloma—also called plasma cell myeloma, myelomatosis or Kahler's disease—is characterized by the overgrowth of malignant plasma cells , mostly in the bone marrow . Although multiple myeloma usually involves the bones, it must be distinguished from cancers that begin in another organ such as the breast or lung and then spread to the bones.
Multiple myeloma is an uncommon malignancy, making up only 1 percent of all cases of cancer. In a population of 1 million people, only 40 cases would be found each year. There have been reports that the incidence of myeloma has increased two- to threefold during the past 40 years, but careful studies from the United States and Europe suggest that the incidence has not truly changed. The apparent increase is most likely due to more and better medical facilities and diagnostic techniques. In Canada about 1,100 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed, and 850 patients die with this disease, each year.
