Normal Bone Marrow
Bone marrow can be thought of as a garden. Healthy bone marrow is similar to thriving flowers without the threat of weeds.
Understanding treatment outcomes
Understanding multiple myeloma and treatment
Disease Diagnosis
A multiple myeloma diagnosis occurs when cancer cells begin to overtake your bone marrow. Early treatment is important. If left untreated, multiple myeloma can get worse over time.
Treatment Goals
Treatment aims to slow the growth of cancer cells to gain control of the disease. The goal of treatment is to control the growth of multiple myeloma cells.
Progression-Free Survival
Living progression-free can be thought of as the length of time that the disease does not get worse. This is a sign that the disease is under control—similar to controlling weeds in a garden.
Levels of response for multiple myeloma
There are many goals of multiple myeloma treatment. One goal is to live progression-free. This can be thought of as the length of time that the disease does not get worse.
Treatment response is another key goal. This refers to how well the multiple myeloma cells in your body are being controlled by therapy. As response deepens (or gets better), fewer cancer cells remain.
You can think of response like weeds being treated in a garden. The weeds begin to disappear as treatment becomes more effective.
A multiple myeloma diagnosis can feel overwhelming, but you and your care team are in this together. If you have questions about your treatment goals, be sure to ask your team.
