Recently Diagnosed or Relapsed? Stop Looking For a Miracle Cure, and Use Evidence-Based Therapies To Enhance Your Treatment and Prolong Your Remission
Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
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Secondary Immunodeficiency in Myeloma
According to the study linked below, secondary immunodeficiency in myeloma is both a symptom and a side effect. By this I mean that SID is caused by MM itself as well as the therapies given to the MM patient.
The reason why MM patients need to learn about secondary immunodeficiency in myeloma is because, according to research, more than half of all MM patients die from infection.
Once the MM patient understands the seriousness of immunodeficiency in myeloma, they need to understand the causes of immunodeficiency. And those are the cancer itself as well as different forms of chemotherapies.
According to ChatGPT:
Do newly diagnosed myeloma patients have secondary immunodeficiency?
Yes, newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients typically have some degree of secondary immunodeficiency. This immune suppression stems from a combination of factors, including the disease itself, which disrupts normal immune function, and the treatments used to manage it.
Here’s how multiple myeloma leads to immunodeficiency:
- Bone Marrow Suppression: Myeloma cells crowd the bone marrow, which disrupts normal blood cell production. This includes suppressing the production of healthy white blood cells, which are critical for a strong immune response.
- Abnormal Antibody Production: Multiple myeloma is characterized by the overproduction of a single type of abnormal antibody (usually immunoglobulin G, A, or M), called a monoclonal protein (M-protein). This monoclonal antibody is typically ineffective in fighting infections and displaces normal, functional antibodies, leading to a drop in protective immunoglobulin levels.
- Reduced T and B Cell Function: Myeloma cells disrupt the function of T cells and B cells, essential components of the adaptive immune response. This makes it harder for the body to mount an adequate immune response to infections.
- Increased Susceptibility to Infections: As a result of these factors, myeloma patients often experience frequent and sometimes severe infections, especially with encapsulated bacteria (like Streptococcus pneumoniae) and viruses (such as varicella-zoster).
- Effect of Treatments: Many therapies for MM, such as corticosteroids, immunomodulatory drugs, proteasome inhibitors, and monoclonal antibodies, further weaken the immune system, exacerbating the immunodeficiency.
Secondary Immunodeficiency in Myeloma-
The only treatment offered by conventional oncology for secondary immunodeficiency for myeloma is IVIG therapy. Though IVIG certainly offers benefits, it also comes with many side effects and may not be covered by your health insurance.
The solution then, at least in my opinion as a long-term myeloma survivor living with long-term side effects from my many toxic treatments, is to build your immune system with non-conventional therapies such as:
man hand holding his nutritional supplemets, healthy lifestyle background.
- nutrition
- supplementation and
- lifestyle therapies
Or perhaps by taking a low dose approach to managing your myeloma. Think less is more…
Email me at David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Thank you.
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Secondary Immunodeficiency in Hematological Malignancies: Focus on Multiple Myeloma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
“Secondary immunodeficiency is reported in most patients with hematological malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma. The aim of our review was to evaluate the existing literature data on patients with hematological malignancies, with regard to the effect of immunodeficiency on:
- the outcome,
- the clinical and therapeutic approach,
- and on the onset of noninfectious complications, including thrombosis, pleural effusion, and orofacial complications.
Immunodeficiency in these patients has an intense impact on their risk of infection, in turn increasing morbidity and mortality even years after treatment completion…
The clinical effect of SID may extend from a moderately relevant infection vulnerability to a more serious condition distinguished by repeated pulmonary infections, viral or fungal opportunistic infections (1, 3).
Moreover, in this type of patient, the diffusion of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), specifically multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus augment the incidence of severe infections and mortality.
Subjects with disease- or treatment-correlated SID are particularly at risk for lethal infections provoked by MDRO (1). Finally, a frequent reason of impaired immune response is the same infectious condition, which alters the activity of lymphocytes.
Finally, the extensive use of cytotoxic treatments and immunosuppressive drugs in tumor subjects can cause a condition of grave SID (4). Therapy-related SID can also happen due to the use of anti‐inflammatory and biological medications, especially in transplanted patients (5)…