If you have multiple myeloma, what you eat matters. And that&rsquo;s true whether you&rsquo;re in treatment or remission. While there is no one-size-fits-all diet plan for people with multiple myeloma, your nutritional choices can ease treatment side effe

What to Eat When You Have Multiple Myeloma

If you&#39;re a cancer survivor, it&#39;s normal to worry about the disease coming back. In this video, palliative medicine specialist Dr. Stewart Fleishman discusses ways to cope with the fear of a cancer recurrence.


As a Cancer Survivor, How Can I Deal with My Fear of a Recurrence?

Read more about graft-versus-host disease and other effects of hematologic cancer treatments.

A hematologist and oncologist looks at the potential complications resulting from chemotherapy used to treat leukemia. Watch this video with Monique Sajjad, DO from Northside Hospital.

What are the long-term effects of hematologic cancer treatment?

Just because you are in remission does not mean that cancer cells are not present in your body. Learn more from our contributors.

Unfortunately, a remission for your hematologic cancer is not the same as a cure. Remission is the term used to refer to the reduction or elimination of symptoms, physical findings, or test results indicating the presence of the cancer. It is called partial remission if the symptoms, findings, and test results are reduced, and complete remission if they are eliminated. However, even a complete remission does not mean that every cancer cell has been destroyed, so the remaining cells may continue to divide, thus causing the disease to recur. Individuals with acute leukemia are routinely treated with additional therapy after they have achieved a remission with initial (induction) chemotherapy, because of the significant possibility of cancer cells remaining.

Is a remission the same as a cure for my hematologic cancer?

Who gets myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases? The population affected by myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases varies by subtype. Learn more from our experts about MDS/MPD.

Different myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disease subtypes affect different populations. Men aged over 60 tend to get chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, especially if they have had prior cancer treatments (radiation, chemotherapy). Smoking and family history are also risk factors. Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia tends to affect children under the age of two. Children with neurofibromatosis type I may also get juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia.

Who gets myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases?

Farydak (panobinostat) is a type of drug known as a histone deacetylase inhibitor that is used to treat multiple myeloma. Learn more from our experts about Farydak.

Farydak (panobinostat) is a type of drug known as a histone deacetylase inhibitor. It is used to treat multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood&rsquo;s plasma cells, generally after two other treatments have been tried. Farydak is usually prescribed with bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, and dexamethasone, a corticosteroid. Together these drugs may stop the action of enzymes that cause cancerous cells to divide. Farydak is a capsule, usually taken three times a week for two weeks, followed by a week off. A quarter of patients have had severe diarrhea following treatment with Farydak; cardiac abnormalities and fatalities have also occurred. Other negative effects include vomiting, nausea, jaundice, fainting, flu-like symptoms, allergic reaction, weight gain, and unusual bleeding or bruising. Farydak can harm a fetus when used in pregnancy; breastfeeding should be avoided. Safety in child patients has not been established. Negative effects from Farydak are more common in patients over age 65.

What is Farydak?

Tumor lysis syndrome results from potent chemotherapy. Learn more about this condition.

Tumor lysis syndrome is a condition caused by the destruction of a large number of tumor cells and the release of their contents into the bloodstream. It occurs most commonly when potent chemotherapy is used for hematologic cancers, especially acute leukemias and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It causes high levels of potassium, uric acid, and phosphate, and low levels of calcium in the blood. The abnormal potassium and calcium levels can cause seizures and changes in heart rhythm, which may lead to cardiac arrest. Kidney impairment or even failure can occur because of uric acid crystals or calcium-phosphate stones collecting in the kidneys. Tumor lysis syndrome is a very serious condition that requires prompt and appropriate treatment by a doctor.

What is tumor lysis syndrome?

Easy bruising is a sign of hematologic cancers. Learn more about other symptoms.

Hematologic cancers may cause a number of symptoms. Several of the most common are weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, easy bruising and bleeding, frequent infections, enlarged lymph nodes, distended or painful abdomen (due to enlarged abdominal organs), bone or joint pain, fractures, unplanned weight loss, poor appetite, night sweats, persistent mild fever, and decreased urination (due to impaired kidney function). Certain symptoms are more likely to occur with some cancers than others. For example, bone pain is more frequently found in myeloma, and enlarged lymph nodes are most common with lymphoma. The specific effects of the enlarged lymph nodes depend on the location and size of these nodes.

Dr. James Butera, MD

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What to Eat When You Have Multiple Myeloma