The IMF is dedicated to improving the quality of life of myeloma patients while working toward prevention and a cure. Other types of treatments, such as radiation therapy and surgery, are used in specific circumstances. This is because it is the stem cells in the blood that are typically being transplanted, not the actual bone marrow tissue.Before recommending transplantation, doctors will talk with the patient about the risks of this treatment. Herbs, supplements, and other drugs can interact with cancer medications. Recent advances in targeted, newer therapy mean that the chances of effective treatment for relapsed disease are increasing.Your doctor may also suggest clinical trials that are studying new ways to treat recurrent or relapsed myeloma. Learn more about Trusted, compassionate information for people with cancer and their families and caregivers, from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the voice of the world’s cancer physicians and oncology professionals.© 2005-2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Thalidomide and lenalidomide are approved to treat newly diagnosed patients. These results suggest that prophylactic levofloxacin could be used for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma undergoing anti-myeloma therapy. Be sure to tell the health care team if you are experiencing a problem. It can also help prevent more serious problems in the future.The disease is called relapsed and refractory myeloma if the cancer no longer responds to the most recent treatment.

You and your family are encouraged to think about where you would be most comfortable: at home, in the hospital, or in a hospice environment. This helps the health care team treat any symptoms and side effects as quickly as possible. A patient usually receives combinations of different drugs at the same time.Combination chemotherapy has been used successfully for the treatment of myeloma. You and your family are encouraged to talk about how you feel with your doctors, nurses, social workers, or other members of the health care team.

The symptoms may include pain, swelling, and infection of the jaw; loose teeth; and exposed bone. Doctors can have different opinions about the best standard treatment plan. Take care of your teeth, gums, and tongue with regular brushing and flossing.

When making treatment plan decisions, you are also encouraged to consider clinical trials as an option. In recent years, targeted treatment, sometimes called novel therapy, has proven to be increasingly successful at controlling myeloma and improving prognosis. Clinical trials are exploring whether the combination of lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone may be as effective as lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone followed by bone marrow/stem cell transplant (see below).Thalidomide (Synovir, Thalomid), lenalidomide, and bortezomib can also be effectively used as maintenance therapy to extend the disease's response to the initial therapy or after a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. Doctors use staging to describe where cancerous cells are and if they’ve spread to other parts of the body, in order to determine the best treatment and patient prognosis.Once a physician has completed a battery of tests and arrived at a multiple myeloma diagnosis, the next step is staging the disease.Doctors assign multiple myeloma a stage as a concise way of describing where the cancerous cells are, if and where they have spread, and whether they are affecting other parts of the body.As with other cancers, the purpose of staging multiple myeloma is to help doctors determine the best Different types of cancer rely on different staging systems. Shared decision making is particularly important for multiple myeloma because there are different treatment options. This is called a The treatment of multiple myeloma depends on whether the patient is experiencing symptoms (see Descriptions of common types of treatments used for multiple myeloma are listed below. Learn more about If the cancer returns after the original treatment, it is called recurrent myeloma or relapsed myeloma. But it is important to have open and honest conversations with your health care team to express your feelings, preferences, and concerns. These drugs include cyclophosphamide (available as a generic drug), doxorubicin (available as a generic drug), melphalan (Alkeran, Evomela), etoposide (available as a generic drug), cisplatin (available as a generic drug), carmustine (BiCNU), and bendamustine (Bendeka). I am blessed to have my family and many good friends to help me defeat this and if you are reading this, you are likely included in that group. However, the decision to undergo a transplant is complex and should be discussed carefully with your doctor.Research has shown that maintenance therapy (the ongoing use of a drug) with lenalidomide and/or bortezomib increases how long patients survive and extends how long they live without active myeloma. In addition, treatment options may depend on whether the patient is newly diagnosed with myeloma or is experiencing a recurrence of the disease. This kind of myeloma is called recurrent or relapsed.Since multiple myeloma is not yet curable, most patients will relapse at some point.When this happens doctors may need to restage the cancer using one of the systems above. Your doctor can help you consider all your treatment options. Learn more about People with early-stage myeloma and no symptoms, called SMM (see Treatment for people with symptomatic myeloma includes both treatment to control the disease as well as supportive care to improve quality of life, such as by relieving symptoms and maintaining good nutrition. In both types, the goal is to destroy all of the cancer cells in the marrow, blood, and other parts of the body using high doses of chemotherapy (usually melphalan) and then allow replacement blood stem cells to create healthy bone marrow and better immunity.Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells.