How does multiple myeloma affect bone?
Multiple myeloma, just by the nature of its malignant cells, causes osteoporosis to develop diffusely. You also have lesions in the bone that cause destruction of localized area of bone and make it especially prone to fracture. So you’ve got the generalized osteoporosis and multiple sites of damage to the bone structure. This is a disease where bisphosphonates are especially important, and we start patients on them as soon as multiple myeloma is diagnosed. Are there side effects with bisphosphonates? Their side effects are minimal. With intravenous bisphosphonates, there is some bone pain on the day of injection. Sometimes there’s a low-grade fever for a short period of time. Also, these drugs can affect a person’s kidney function, and there is the potential of kidney damage. It’s important to monitor function regularly, and if there is a problem, we increase the amount of time of administration of the drug. How are bisphosphonates being used now to treat cancer-related bone complicati
