What Is Smoldering Myeloma?
Smoldering myeloma is a slow-growing type of multiple myeloma or myeloma plasmacytoma (a rare form of myeloma in which there is only one tumor) that is not causing the symptoms or damage that is common in people with other types of myeloma. Since there are usually no symptoms, smoldering myeloma is often diagnosed by a chance finding on a blood test. In smoldering myeloma, abnormalities in certain white blood cells, called plasma cells, cause them to make too much of a certain protein (monoclonal protein) that builds up in the urine. This causes higher levels of the monoclonal protein in the blood or urine, as well as an increase in the number of myeloma cells in the bone marrow. “People with smoldering myeloma have a little more myeloma protein than normal and they have some myeloma cells in the bone marrow, but they don’t have symptoms or bone lesions,” says Guido Tricot, MD, PhD, professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine and director of the Utah Blood and Marrow Transpl
