Multiple myeloma

incurable blood cancer can now access a new treatment that was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) this week.

The blood cancer myeloma is a type of cancer that develops from plasma cells, a type of white blood cell, in the bone marrow. It is often called multiple myeloma because 90 per cent of those diagnosed have multiple bone lesions. The multiple myeloma patient journey involves a pattern of response, remission and relapse, with individuals responding differently to certain treatments due to the complex nature of the incurable disease.

Plasma cells are part of the immune system that helps to fight infection. When cancerous, these abnormal plasma cells spread throughout the bone marrow and block the pathway for normal blood cells. The disease can be challenging to diagnose due to its wide range of symptoms, including high blood calcium levels, anaemia, fatigue, kidney failure, recurrent infections and bone pain.

In 2020, people living with myeloma had a median survival rate of more than seven years, which is significant in comparison to the median survival rate of just three years in the early 2000s.

Myeloma is Australia’s third most common blood cancer, after lymphoma and leukaemia. The disease usually occurs in people aged over 60 and is more common in men. About 18,000 Australians are living with multiple myeloma at any given time. Only half will survive five years after they have been diagnosed. More than half (52 per cent) of those living with multiple myeloma report feeling anxious or depressed.