Avoiding Myeloma Progression

Pomalyst Study Cycle 70: IgG was basically unchanged this month, compared with last month, at 1290 mg/dL. M-spike was 1.1 g/dL, compared with 1.0 last month, but it isn't very accurate and probably should have been 1.1 last month. Light chains wobbled a little but I never know what to think of them anyway. Dr YLH and I agreed that the myeloma remains stable after 70 28-day cycles. Myeloma Progression: I dread the day that my myeloma figures out how to defeat the Pomalyst. Every 28 days we check for problems, and I never really breathe easy until I get the numbers. So far, though, the Pomalyst (2 mg daily as a single agent) has kept my M-spike stable at around 1.1 or so. Why hasn't it evolved into a form that can evade the Pomalyst? Here is my theory: First, we know that myeloma is initially caused by a genetic mutation in a plasma cell or in a stem-cell-like precursor cell. That cell produces more cells just like it. The initial mutation may be spontaneous, but more likely is caused by damage to the cell's DNA by an environmental factor such as radiation or nasty chemicals. Benzene, for example, a component of gasoline, is a known cause of myeloma. That first mutation has to surmount several hurdles for the cell to become cancer, and most mutations fail, because they are detected and squashed by the immune system, or because the cell dies as it is programmed to do when something goes wrong. Mutations actually happen frequently, but very, very few become cance...
Source: Myeloma Hope - Category: Cancer Source Type: blogs