Caleb Warner

Human Biology
Multiple Myeloma
Multiple Myeloma is a cancerous disease that occurs within the bones of your body. I will in
this article cover what I have learned causes this cancer and what you can do to detect if you may be
suffering from Multiple Myeloma. Additionally what affects Multiple Myeloma will have on you
physiologically as it progresses. Further we will discuss what treatment options there are for Multiple
Myeloma in addition to what affects the individual treatment options may have on you physiologically.
Moreover we will discuss other factors that may be associated with Multiple Myeloma.
Multiple Myeloma is a cancer that develops in the bones of our body's. Within your bones is
bone marrow where your blood is made. Blood consists of red blood cells, white blood cells, and
platelets. White blood cells are one of your bodys many defenses against infection or cancer, and are
vital to your immune system as a natural killer cell. Multiple Myeloma is the cancer that targets white
blood cells known as plasma cells, and alters or mutates these cells. To tell the truth scientists do not
fully know what causes a case of Multiple Myeloma to develop. Your body is made of trillions of cells
which all have a specific duty or task to fulfill. If a cell is cancerous that means it can no longer fulfill
its designated task. Many of these non-functioning cells collect together to make a tumor, and a
Malignant Tumor has a high chance of spreading and corrupting other cells. In the same way within
the marrow of your bones a mutated plasma cell can alter other plasma cells. Studies indicate that the
initial mutation of the plasma cell may be attributed to mutated Porto-oncogenes also known as
oncogenes (MayoClinic). Porto-oncogenes are genes that regulate or control the cell cycle of proteins.
When they mutate they're given the term oncogenes. Oncogenes can overstimulate cell division of
proteins or in our case plasma cells. On the other hand cases have shown that Multiple Myeloma may
be caused by other bone marrow cells, and issues in cell division giving the cancerous cells abnormal
chromosomes. Some of the symptoms that may indicate a case of Multiple Myeloma include pain in
bones, extreme frailty of bones, and loss of strength, weakened immune system, excessive bleeding

from minor cuts and kidney problems (American Cancer Society). Because your kidneys filter the
blood in your body it is the major organ affected by a case of Multiple Myeloma. Consequently the
effects are in many different organ systems. The systems that may be affected are the immune,
circulatory, and the urinary systems. As a consequence many of the symptoms of Multiple Myeloma
are shown in these systems.
The destruction of plasma cells within the bone marrow as discussed before affects your
kidneys. Plasma cells follow the blood stream. All blood in the human body is filtered by the kidneys.
Being that Multiple Myeloma is an abnormal condition in the body the collection of the mutated cells
in the kidneys strains the nephrons within. Damaged nephrons disrupts the process of waste filtration
in the body, hence the issues in the urinary system. Further disruption of blood filtration can lead to
many more physiological problems due to the fact that the circulatory system is what supplies the rest
of the body with the vital oxygen and nutrients to function. The second major issue with Multiple
Myeloma is the destruction of, and prevention of further development for white blood cells. White
blood cells are a frontal defense against disease. A shortage of white blood cells in the body
dramatically weakens the immune system. Due to the fact that the process within the bones themselves
is compromised your bones will also become very week and susceptible to increased pain and cause
fracturing under little stress.
Multiple Myeloma sounds pretty miserable and dangerous to me, but luckily the treatment
options I was able to research appeared to be affective. There are many treatments to slow or halt any
further spreading of Multiple Myeloma. Most of these come in pill form or can be administered via IV.
These options include: bisphosphonates, biological therapy (interferon), and corticosteroids. These
treatment options focus on lowering the number of affected cells and aiding the body to prevent further
spreading of Multiple Myeloma in the body. What is more on top of these options are many more
permanent treatment solutions. Namely, treatments of Chemotherapy, Radiation, and Stem Cell
Transplantation are more permanent options (American Cancer Society). While Chemotherapy and

Radiation focus on killing the Multiple Myeloma affected cells the stem cell transplant removes
marrow from your bones, and is purified of its mutated cells then placed again into your body to begin
rebuilding bone and white blood cells. Unfortunately all of the more effective solutions are very hard
on the body. Chemo therapy attacks all fast growing cells. These fast growing cells include but are not
limited to your skin, bone marrow, stomach, and hair. So Chemo therapy cannot discern between
mutated and un-mutated cells. The result is increased stress on your body as well as further hindrance
of your immune system. Radiation is used to attack cells in a specific area by firing high energy
particles that can kill the cancer cells. The high energy damages the DNA within the cells, resulting in
a sort of sterilization of the cell.
In Conclusion the initial cause for a case of Multiple Myeloma to develop is unknown. When a
case is developed the immune, urinary and circulatory systems are where most of the side effects are
experienced or occur. The symptoms include loss of strength, weak immune system, frail bones,
slowed clotting of the blood, and kidney or urinary problems. The treatments available are some oral
administered pharmaceuticals that slow the progress, Chemotherapy, Radiation therapy, and a bone
marrow transplant.

Citations:
Mayo Clinic Staff, Diseases and Conditions Multiple Myeloma, MayoClinic.org, September 11,
2014, Web, November 20, 2014

American Cancer Society, Multiple Myeloma, Cancer.org, June 16, 2014, Web, November 20, 2014