BY KAY S. PEDROTTI
Staff Writer

This Saturday, April 10, the International Myeloma Foundation will present the Atlanta Patient and Family Seminar on multiple myeloma, a little-known, rare form of bone marrow cancer with no known cure.

The disease affects about 75,000 people in the U.S. every year, and with 13,500 new cases diagnosed each year is one of the fastest-growing types of cancer. The Atlanta area has a multiple myeloma support group with about 75 members.

The seminar will be at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead. A continental breakfast will be offered at 7 a.m., with welcome at 8 a.m. Closing session is 4:15 p.m. Cost for the seminar is $85, and register by calling 800-452-2873.

Topics include "back to basics - myeloma 101," bone involvement and complications, initial treatment options, when standard treatment fails, and "what's new."

The International Myeloma Foundation, based in California, distributes material about multiple myeloma, noting that the bone marrow cancer is caused by uncontrolled growth of plasma cells. Manufactured in the bone marrow, plasma cells are a part of the body's immune system. But overgrowth can cause the cells to invade and destroy surrounding bone, as well as displacing normal blood-producing cells in the marrow.

The causes of the disease are unknown, but some experts believe there is a relationship to toxic exposures like environmental pollutants, chemicals, pesticides and Agent Orange. Among the first symptoms may be pain along the lower back and ribs, excessive thirst and exhaustion, bruising, nose bleeds, hazy vision and headaches.

Diagnosis may be missed because the disease has been rare, especially in younger people. Many patients are first diagnosed after routine blood/urine tests show high protein levels, caused by the overabundance of proteins secreted by the malignant plasma cells. Two of these three tests can confirm a diagnosis of multiple myeloma: a bone marrow sample showing more than 10 percent of cells are plasma cells; a metastatic bone survey by X-rays which shows holes in the bone or widespread bone loss; a biopsy revealing a plasma cell tumor on or in the bone. The most common effect of the cancer is bone destruction which can be slowed or prevented by prompt and proactive treatment.

Without treatment, the patient gradually becomes immobile. Treatment options can include chemotherapy, radiation, replacing plasma cells with fluid, or harvesting "stem cells" to regrow normal marrow.

"If ignorance breeds fear and knowledge is power," says Stephanie Colman of the International Myeloma Foundation, "those attending the IMF's Atlanta Patient and Family Seminar will find themselves armed with an impressive battalion of up-to-date factual information and patient-to-patient support."

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