There’s a word used for a disease that proceeds myeloma that sounds frightening. The word is “smoldering”. Smoldering multiple myeloma is a disease that is very close to becoming active myeloma, but does not have any symptoms. "Just by its name, it's smolderingit's almost thereto light up the fire, to become active disease," says Dr. Irene Ghobrial, myeloma specialist from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Almost all patients diagnosed with active multiple myeloma had smoldering myeloma previously, but most don't know it. Smoldering myeloma is symptomless, but is characterized by higher levels of abnormal proteins in the blood and plasma cells that make up greater than 10% of the bone marrow.
The chance of progressing to malignant myeloma differs based on the riskiness of the smoldering myeloma. Patients with smoldering myeloma typically have a 10% lifetime chance of progressing to active multiple myeloma, but patients with high risk smoldering myeloma have a 50% chance of progressing to active multiple myeloma within just two years following diagnosis.
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