Multiple myeloma death rate is a hematologic disease more complicated to handle, with a multitude of different ways both arise, to evolve and marking of multiple complications some of them disabling. That is why it is very difficult to venture a prognosis being this variable for each patient.
Indolent myeloma only need surveillance have a very good prognosis.
Very elderly patients need only conservative with supporting measures and oral drug therapy, depending on its forecast of the control of the process.
In other cases, the early establishment of an initial treatment with combination chemotherapy Gets a response in more than 70% of the cases that usually lasts between 3 and 4 years.
After this therapy, children under 70 year recommends carrying out a transplant autologous peripheral blood to achieve higher rate of complete responses and increased survival (median of 5-7 years) the main problem is that after initial treatment or after transplantation process relapses are very common.
In these relapses can be use the polychemotherapy associated or not with corticoids at high doses or the use of new drugs such as thalidomide, bortezomib etc… alone, combined or associated with chemotherapy that are opening new expectations.
In young patients with compatible donor can be indicated in relapses allogeneic transplantation autologous post-transplant. If these treatment you have response and disabling complications do not arise, you can get increased survival with a good quality of life.
Generally the objective with all these treatment is that the process is cronifique and controlled but he is not able to cure.
Estimated number of new cases and deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States in 2014:
- New cases: 24 050
- Deaths: 11 090
Currently this process is irreversible. However, the pain can be mitigated or controlled.
Some people live up to 5 years after the symptoms appear, and the medical literature cited certain cases of inexplicable cures.
Scientific research is ongoing, and is expected to arrive to find effective treatment and cure.
Hope for the future
A promising way of treatment for multiple myeloma may be the use of vaccines that stimulate the natural defences of the body against disease. There are vaccines that are being developed and tested today.
For younger patients with multiple myeloma, Allogenic haematopoietic stem-cell transplant is useful, provided a matching donor is found. Also, and with encouraging results, bone marrow from the patient autologous transplants are carried out in order to restore the function of the same after a very strong chemotherapy.
You are using methods to stimulate the amount of bone marrow and blood stem cells, which then obtained are used as autologous transplantation, reducing morbidity and mortality of the practice.
Researchers are constantly looking for the reason why certain people get the disease and tests can be done to find out who their chances of suffering, as well as ways to prevent multiple myeloma.
This disease is rarely observed in patients younger than 40 years. 90% of patients have more than 55 years, while 50% is more than 70 years old, are performed when the diagnosis.
The Outlook for patients with multiple myeloma are improving constantly. New drug combinations have been applied to the treatment of this disease with encouraging results. Many of the progress made to combat this disease in the last decade, is the result of using only chemotherapy or high-dose chemotherapy with autologous cell transplantation peripheral blood stem.