[johnukParticipant]

Hi everyone,

My 60 year old mother was diagnosed with MM and has started her treatment.

I’ve been doing my research and had a few (well a lot) of questions I was hoping you can help with.

I understand that as her son I am about four times more likely to develop MM than someone else as there is some genetic link. Would this link me more prevalent if it was my Dad with MM as it affects males more than females, hence theoretically I would have a lower chance as it is my mother that has MM? I understand my chances are still small and MM isn’t really considered hereditary but this would be good to know I think.

I think I am going to get a standard blood screen at my GP just to put my mind at rest. My question about this is as I’m only 32 years old will they be even able to tell I have pre-cursors of developing MM, I guess it would show if there were cancerous cell present? would it be better to do this when I’m older say 60 years old?

 

Thank you in advance.

John

 

[debbiegParticipant]

Thank you for posting on the Myeloma Discussion Forum. My name is Debbie, and I am one of the Myeloma Information Specialists at Myeloma UK.  I am sorry that no-one has responded to your post to date. This is a question that it is unlikely forum users will be able to answer.

I can understand your concern about myeloma running in the family. We do know there is a slightly higher risk but, strictly speaking, it is not considered to be hereditary like some cancers e.g. certain types of breast cancer, where a single inherited gene greatly increases the risk of someone developing cancer. In myeloma, patients are thought to have inherited certain sets of genes which makes them slightly more susceptible but other additional environmental factors are needed before it develops. We don’t know what these genes or what exactly these additional factors are. Also, the risk for family members is not determined by the gender of the patient – the slightly greater prevalence of myeloma in men is not known but may be related to differences in exposure to certain environmental factors.

Unfortunately, there are no standard screening tests available for myeloma and the nearest would be detecting the presence of the myeloma-specific protein called “paraprotein”. At present this is not available as part of routine blood tests but can be ordered by request. It might be best to discuss your concerns with your GP in the first instance if this is something you are interested in having done.

We have an Infosheet “Is myeloma an inherited cancer?” which you can access via our website which I hope helps clarify things further. I hope this has been of some help. If you have any further questions, or would like to talk things through, please feel free to call the Myeloma Infoline on 0800 980 3332 – I or one of my colleagues can clarify things for you further. Alternately you can email directly to askthenurse@myeloma.org.uk

Best wishes, Debbie

 

• This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by  debbieg.

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