What to Know About Your Treat... Health Article

Your treatment options for multiple myeloma depend on how much the cancer has affected your health, kidney function, and other organs. The goal of treatment is to control the cancer for as long as possible and to keep you comfortable.

It’s normal to want to learn all you can about myeloma and your treatment choices. You probably have many questions and concerns. Your doctor is the best person to answer your questions about your treatment, how successful it is expected to be, and what the risks and side effects may be.

Treatment for multiple myeloma is almost always systemic. The goal of systemic treatments is to kill or control cancer cells through your whole body. These are the 4 main systemic treatments used for multiple myeloma, listed from the most to the least commonly used.

• Chemotherapy

• Immunotherapy

• Stem cell transplant

• Bone marrow transplant

Sometimes, local treatments can also be used to ease your symptoms. Their goal is to control or kill the cancer cells in a certain place. Radiation is a local treatment used to ease bone pain or prevent breaks in bones weakened by the multiple myeloma.