Multiple myeloma
What it means
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow that disrupts the normal bone rebuilding process, leading to areas of bone loss.
It matters for your bones because this cancer directly attacks the balance between breaking down and rebuilding bone, which can weaken bone in specific spots.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer that starts in plasma cells and settles inside the bone marrow, the soft tissue inside your bones. Unlike many other health issues that affect bone indirectly, myeloma directly takes over the bone remodeling system, the normal cycle where old bone is cleared away and new bone is built in its place.
Myeloma cells release signaling chemicals, including RANKL, MIP-1α, IL-6, and TNF-α, that push osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone, into overdrive. At the same time, the cancer releases other substances, DKK1 and sclerostin, that block osteoblasts, the cells that build new bone, by interfering with a pathway called Wnt signaling.
The combined effect is bone that gets aggressively broken down but never rebuilt. This creates distinctive 'punched-out' holes in the bone called lytic lesions. This is a medical condition that requires diagnosis and treatment from a physician; any decisions about managing it belong to your medical team.
How sure is this?
Graded Established Science: Supported by broad scientific consensus and decades of research. Read each study with its grade in mind. One study is a piece of the picture, not the whole of it.
Where the Academy teaches it
This page is the short version. The lessons teach it in full, with the context around it and a quiz to lock it in.
Related words
An osteoblast is a cell that builds new bone by laying down fresh bone matrix, working alongside cells that break…
Osteoclasts are the cells that break down old bone tissue, working alongside bone-building osteoblasts to constantly…
Bone remodeling is the lifelong cycle where cells called osteoclasts remove old bone and osteoblasts build new bone…
Sclerostin is a protein made by bone cells called osteocytes that blocks new bone formation; less mechanical strain…
RANKL is a signal that activates osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone, and it's a key target for some…
Bone marrow is the soft tissue inside bones where red bone marrow makes your red blood cells, white blood cells, and…
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
