Journal #6: Investigation

 Hello Journal,

   In this journal, I'm discussing some articles and information I investigated to study a disease called myeloma or multiple myeloma. So, what is myeloma? Well, myeloma in simple terms is cancer that affects the plasma cells in the bone marrow. However, this disease is not limited to just staying inside the bone marrow as this disease progresses, the clonal cells tend to develop the ability to multiply outside of the bone marrow resulting in extramedullary myeloma (EMM) and plasma cell leukemia (PCL). One of the articles that I read for this investigation was titled "Understanding the multiple biological aspects leading to myeloma" by a few authors named Eileen M. Boyle, Faith E. Davies, Xavier Leleu, and  Gareth J. Morgan. This article was published in the PMC - US National library of medicine & National institutes of health. PMC publishers are one of my most chosen and favorite websites which use for most of my research. It is a creditable website that comes from government-owned websites that includes finding primary research articles as well as review articles and journals. This specific article about myeloma, this article talks about different aspects that may lead to myeloma. This not only talks about the aspects, but it also helped me understand how the actual plasma cells development happens. Some of the aspects that this article talks about are the clinical behavior of different cases with myeloma, environmental and inherited contributions, the niche of the bone marrow which plays an important role in the disease, the different mutations that occur in the DNA which contributes to myeloma, myeloma evolution, and the different implications of patients who have myeloma. According to this article, it was found out from different patients that myeloma occurs when there are mutations in the site of BIRC2 and BIRC3 genes, CYLD and 14q32 the site of TRAF3 which all belongs to the genes that are involved in the F-κB pathway, indicating that upregulation of NF-κB signaling is important in myeloma. Also, a Tumor suppressor and cell cycle deregulations are one other factor that contributes to myeloma. Overall, this article was an excellent one that gave a lot of information about the causes and consequences of the abnormalities occurring in normal B cells that lead to myeloma. It has also been made clear that in addition to the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that lead to myeloma progression, the degree of inter-and intraclonal heterogeneity adds to the complexity.

Citation: Boyle, Eileen M et al. “Understanding the multiple biological aspects leading to myeloma.” Haematologica vol. 99,4 (2014): 605-12. doi:10.3324/haematol.2013.097907

    I also viewed and read some information about the vaccines for myeloma from a website called "Creative Biolabs". This website also provided some information about myeloma as a hematological cancer disease and also talked about some available vaccines for myeloma. According to creative Biolabs, myeloma is an incurable but treatable condition where people with family history, obesity, alcohol, radiation exposure, and certain chemicals are all some risk factors. Also, there can be no symptoms initially for this malignant disease but later as the disease progress, symptoms like bone pain in the areas of the spine and chest, constipation, nausea, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue, confusion, or mental fogginess, frequent infections can be seen. Some treatments involve Chemotherapy, thalidomide, or lenalidomide, as well as stem cell transplantation, which may help. To treat the discomfort of bone lesions, bisphosphonates and radiation are sometimes employed. Moreover, cellular and non- cell-based vaccines are also available to treat/prevent myeloma. 

Citation: Vaccines for myeloma. Vaccines for Myeloma - Creative Biolabs. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.creative-biolabs.com/vaccine/vaccines-for-myeloma.htm