A Patient’s Multiple Myeloma Journey Offers Hope

Dave expected an ordinary annual checkup, but a call about possible anemia was followed the next day by a fall that broke his leg and hip. Together, those events led to a diagnosis of aggressive multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that begins in plasma cells inside bone marrow. He then worked with his care team to understand the disease and choose treatment.

Multiple myeloma can affect bones, kidneys, blood counts, and energy. Bone pain is the most frequent symptom, occurring in 70 percent of people newly diagnosed, while fatigue, weakness, frequent infections, easy bruising, breathing trouble, and kidney problems may also occur. About 36,000 new cases are expected this year; roughly 20,000 will be in men, and most diagnosed patients are at least 65. Dave later recognized that some earlier symptoms may have seemed like ordinary signs of aging.

Over several years, Dave received treatments that helped temporarily before losing their effect. His experience included remission, relapse, fear, and anxiety, reflecting the recurring nature of this disease: nearly all patients eventually relapse, although therapies remain available. For adults whose multiple myeloma has returned or failed to respond after at least two previous treatments, including specified drug types, BLENREP may be used with bortezomib and dexamethasone. The medicine carries serious eye risks, so treatment requires enrollment in the BLENREP REMS program and eye examinations before treatment, before every dose, and when problems arise. Eye changes can include blurred vision, dryness, light sensitivity, irritation, pain, or corneal ulcers; monitoring and treatment adjustments may be necessary.