There are a number of different ways doctors determine how myeloma is affecting your body. One frequent problem they look for is how myeloma causes bone damage, and this requires imaging.
“We have bone eating cells and bone producing cells and they are kind of in a balance,” says Dr. Jens Hillengass, Chief of Myeloma at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Myeloma causes "the myeloma causes an imbalance." The cancerous cells release proteins in the bone marrow that reverse the normal process. The proteins produced by the myeloma activate cells in the body dedicated to breaking down bone cells while simultaneously deactivating cells in the body dedicated to building up bones. This disruption can cause pain and small fractures or holes in our bones. So how do doctors detect these bone problems?
Read MoreTogether, these imaging techniques can give an accurate sense of the stage of progression of the disease during diagnostic testing.
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