Diagnosing multiple myeloma requires a thorough and personalized approach, as the stage of the cancer influences which treatment you receive. 

Our experts use advanced tools to diagnose myeloma and gain a comprehensive understanding of your disease. They also use a variety of tests to see how advanced your myeloma is—a process called staging. Accurate diagnosis and staging are essential to ensure you receive the most effective treatment while avoiding unnecessary therapies that could impact your quality of life.

If you have symptoms that suggest multiple myeloma, your doctor may recommend one or more of the following tests:

• Blood and urine tests: These may include serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP), urine protein electrophoresis (UPEP), serum and urine immunofixation, serum free light chain assay, and immunoglobulin quantitation to identify abnormal proteins and other indicators of myeloma, such as M-protein.
• Bone marrow biopsy: This is crucial for diagnosing myeloma, since it checks for the presence of abnormal plasma cells. Your doctor will remove a small sample of bone marrow tissue to examine under a microscope.
• Imaging tests: We use X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and PET scans to detect bone lesions and other signs of multiple myeloma.
• Lumbar puncture: This test, also known as a spinal tap, may be used if your doctor suspects that myeloma has affected your central nervous system.

Stages of Multiple Myeloma

There are stages of multiple myeloma as well as myeloma "precursor" diseases which may require you to be monitored. They include:

• Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and smoldering myeloma. Both of these conditions do not cause symptoms but may evolve into symptomatic myeloma. If you have one of them, we will closely monitor you but not give any treatment.
• Plasmacytoma. This is a tumor formed by cancerous blood cells called plasma cells. It may exist without or without multiple myeloma present elsewhere in your body. We will treat you if you have symptoms.
• Multiple myeloma. When multiple myeloma causes symptoms, it requires treatment. It is classified as stage 1, 2, or 3, depending on the levels of abnormal proteins and DNA changes within your bone marrow biopsy.

Molecular DNA Analysis of Multiple Myeloma

The blood cancer specialists at Englewood Health provide advanced molecular profiling of cancer cells. Your doctor will perform a biopsy and send a sample to our laboratory for an in-depth analysis. This analysis helps us understand the biology of your cancer, including its growth patterns and mutations, and predicts how it might respond to various treatments. With this information, we develop precision medicine tailored specifically to you, targeting the unique DNA of your cancer cells for the most effective treatment.