Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. The plasma cells are a type of white blood cell in the bone marrow. With this condition, a group of plasma cells becomes cancerous and multiplies. The disease can damage the bones, immune system, kidneys, and red blood cell count.
Symptoms may not be present or may be non-specific, such as loss of appetite, bone pain, and fever.
Treatments include medications, chemotherapy, corticosteroids, radiation, or a stem-cell transplant.
Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) . The cancer cells make large amounts of an abnormal protein (called a macroglobulin). Another name for WM is lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. This condition used to be called Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, so some people refer to it as Waldenstrom’s. To understand WM, it helps to know about the functions of lymphoid tissue in the body.
