Cancer hurts us, it hurts us all, not only the people who suffer from it, it also hurts those of us who want to do our bit to improve these conditions.

Multiple Miloma is a cancer of plasma cells that drastically impairs the quality of life of those who suffer from it and their families. This disease can present most of the time in an asymptomatic way, patients can take years to develop symptoms, which begin in greater proportion with pulmonary affectations, renal failure, anemia and bone pain up to fractures, about 80% of patients with MM manifest intense pain, 63% report difficulty in carrying out their daily activities and even in their mobility, the degree of disability that this disease generates compared to a healthy comparative is 42%, high figures that we must take into account.

MM is the second most common blood cancer and in 20% of cases it develops asymptomatically.

This disease is diagnosed particularly late, around 65 to 70 years of age when patients begin to clinically manifest the symptoms described above; currently there is scientific evidence of the possibility of detecting it from the age of 40. Unfortunately, some treating physicians in the initial consultations do not give the correct direction, which leads to losing much time in the accurate diagnosis, in short, the person who is affected by this disease is finally referred to a specialist when it is already in a very advanced stage and with the complications for the quality of life that we have already mentioned.

HOW IS THE DIAGNOSIS.

Diagnostic tests for multiple myeloma are a set of supportive laboratory tests plus the clinical examination performed by the treating physician.

As for the in vitro tests performed in the laboratory, we have the following:

• Quantification of serum immunoglobulins.
• Protein electrophoresis.
• Immunofixation electrophoresis.
• Determination of free light chains exclusively in serum.

Illustration Protein electrophoresis

 

The most important clinical criteria for determining symptomatic multiple myeloma are manifestations of target organ damage, including anemia, hypercalcemia, renal failure, bone damage or recurrent infections.

In Colombia, diagnostic tests for this disease are not normally prescribed before the age of 60 years, unless there is some suspicion on the part of the physician. In countries such as Uruguay, a study is underway to demonstrate the incidence of this disease in people over 40 years old and thus achieve the inclusion of diagnostic tests in this population in the management guidelines of the disease and thus access to more timely diagnosis and to initiate early treatments, from Annar Health Technologies faithfully committed to contribute to improving the health of the country we will carry out this study in the company of our partner Sebia, a world leader in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma and other metabolic diseases, we intend to screen about 10.We intend to screen about 10,000 people over 40 years of age without known diseases and to demonstrate the incidence of this disease in its early stages.

THE FIGURES.

In the world there are an estimated 240,000 thousand people with MM, in Colombia we have an incidence of 1400 new cases each year.

The economic burden generated by this disease, according to a study conducted by the Colombian Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, indicates a participation of 0.37% of the GDP, which is a high figure considering that the total health expenditure is 7.3% in 2020.

OUR CONTRIBUTION

From Annar Health Technologies we contribute to the health system by providing diagnostic solutions of the highest quality, allying ourselves with the leaders in the market for the diagnosis of this disease, today we have more than 90% of the market in the country supporting with technology and products of the highest quality, we constantly provide training and updating to health professionals in the correct diagnosis and interpretation of results and we are constantly training internally to provide the best of our knowledge to those who impact directly on patients.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY .

1. Multiple myeloma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, P. Moreau1 et al., April 201.
2. Latin American Multiple Myeloma Study Group. Consensus of the Latin American Multiple Myeloma (MM) Study Group GELAMM for the management of MM in Pandemic SARS CoV-2 / COVID 19. Rev Col Cancerol. 2020;24(Suppl1):1-29.