I’m sorry that your husband’s SCT hasn’t had the result you had hoped. However as with so many aspects of myeloma, statistically poorer indicators do not necessarily reflect poorer outcomes. A member of our local support group had a first SCT 10 years ago and was left with evident paraproteins, which remained at a constant level between 5 & 6 until this summer when they started to rise and myeloma became active again. This MM patient didn’t have access to lenalidomide maintenance either, which statistically would have nearly doubled the period of inactive disease.
I believe some MM patients go into an MGUS like state, and like my friend appears to have had, and despite evident pps had no problems until the myeloma became active again. Also it can take a year or so for the full effects of SCT to become apparent. Another member of the group had pps which continued to fall over the first year after SCT so there must be the possibility of your husband’s pps continuing to fall. I’m sure that the next few blood tests will be an anxious time for you both, but I hope they show a downward movement, or at least no movement at all.
Even those of us fortunate enough to have no evident pps after SCT are very likely to have some level of minimal residual disease, but outside trials this is not measured in the UK. Lenalidomide maintenance really does help keep that residual disease at bay, and I’m so pleased that people like your husband can have it after SCT.
