What are the stages of multiple myeloma?
It is important to start with whether the patient has any symptoms for myeloma. The multiple myeloma prognosis and staging figure out how aggressive the cancer is. Newly diagnosed myeloma patients can be classified as:
- Asymptomatic meaning the person has no symptoms and signs of illness. Patients without symptoms are closely monitored without specific treatment. Sometimes therapies are offered to stop the disease from growing or spreading. This is called active surveillance for myeloma
- Symptomatic meaning the person has symptoms and signs of the disease. Treatment is needed for the patients with symptoms or who are about to develop symptoms
When and how does my doctor determine the stage of my multiple myeloma?
Revised International Staging System (RISS) is the most frequently used staging system for multiple myeloma. It predicts merely how well you are going to do with treatment. To find out how aggressive the cancer is, it measures albumin levels, beta-2 microglobulin (B2M), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and genetic changes.
What is stage I multiple myeloma?
Albumin, B2 M, and LDH levels are normal. It is not particularly aggressive because of the genetic makeup of the cancer cells. At this stage, multiple myeloma is treatable but most people do not know they will have it until it is more advanced.
What is stage II multiple myeloma?
In multiple myeloma stage 2, The level of albumin is low and B2M is either still normal or a little high.
What is stage III multiple myeloma?
In multiple myeloma stage 3, there are high B2 M levels which indicate that the disease is widespread and advanced. A high level of LDH or risky change can occur in DNA of the cells.
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