What is multiple myeloma?
Multiple myeloma occurs in the bone marrow and is made of cancerous plasma cells, which are white blood cells that produce antibodies responsible for fighting diseases and infections. Cancerous plasma cells cannot produce these antibodies any more and will eventually multiply and take over the bone marrow, disrupting the essential production of other blood cells.
Read more about multiple myelomaKey statistics
1%
Multiple myeloma is quite rare and accounts for around 1% of all cancers, with approximately 1,500-1,800 Australians being diagnosed each year.
Men
Men are more commonly affected than women.
70
Generally affects people older than 60 years old with 70 being the average age at diagnosis.
Multiple myeloma research at Garvan
Research on multiple myeloma focuses on gaining a better understanding the disease, as well as finding new ways to treat it. There are still many processes that aren't understood in the progression and dormancy (or remission) of multiple myeloma. Our research aims to study some of the unknown mechanisms behind progression, and find new treatments that will effectively target these processes.
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