Multiple Myeloma Treatment

Multiple Myeloma Treatment

One of multiple myeloma treatment available today is Immune modulating Therapy. Using this kind of treatment increases the infection risks that may be encountered by the patient. This is also true with chemotherapy. Almost a third of such infections are considered fatal, limiting the possibility of administering chemotherapy. And usually, in order to avoid this and prevent the infections, antibiotics are administered everyday during the first 2 months of such treatment.

This kind of multiple myeloma treatments makes use of different kinds of biological therapy agents. One of which is Lenalidomide (Revlimid®). This is a drug that is immune-modulating during the initial stages of the treatment. Most of the time, it is used alongside with a corticosteroid called dexamethasone. Those patients who are planning to have subsequent stem cell transplantation, which is another treatment, prefer this as their initial treatment. This is done by making the patients take pills, with Lenalidomide taken for twenty one days while dexamethasone is taken once every week. However, it should be noted that this combination increases the risk of blood clot development. For this reason, anticoagulants are recommended. Also, it is unadvisable to administer Lenalidomide this to women who are pregnant because it can cause birth defects that are severe. Another agent is called Thalidomide (Thalomid®). This is also used alongside dexamethasone and is a substitute to the first combination mentioned. This kind of combination is said to be less effective and has greater side effects that are toxic. The last biological therapy agent used Immune Modulating Therapy as a multiple myeloma treatment is Bortezomib (Velcade®). This is most effective when the patients have other tumors apart from multiple myeloma. It is also helpful when the patient experiences failure in his kidney. The side effects of this medication are damage in the nerves and low blood count.

Immune modulating Therapy is not the only treatment for this disease. Find multiple myeloma treatment available like chemotherapy and the like that is suitable for a patient.