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In 2014, the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) updated the diagnostic criteria for multiple myeloma – a change that has had a profound effect on the concept of early treatment of patients with smoldering multiple myeloma.
The diagnosis of multiple myeloma traditionally required the presence of end-organ damage known as the CRAB criteria (increased calcium level, renal dysfunction, anemia, and destructive bone lesions). The IMWG update added three biomarkers that can be used to diagnose multiple myeloma in patients who do not have CRAB features:
Clonal bone marrow plasma cells of 60% or more
Serum free light chain (FLC) ratio of 100 or greater, involved FLC level is 100 mg/L or higher
March Declared “Myeloma Action Month” Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Mayor Jim Coppinger has proclaimed March 2021 “Myeloma Action Month” in Hamilton County.
Mayor Coppinger joins Tennessee Governor Bill Lee who declared March as “Myeloma Action Month” across the state of Tennessee and Chairman Shannon Whitfield, who declared it in Walker County, Ga.
According to the International Myeloma Foundation, myeloma, also referred to as multiple myeloma, is an incurable cancer of cells in the bone marrow. Myeloma currently affects more than 100,000 people in the United States, with an estimated 33,000 new cases to be diagnosed this year. Myeloma is twice as common in African Americans and is becoming more common in younger patients, with possible links to environmental toxins.