Multiple myeloma fund created to improve access to quality treatment

Knowledge and awareness of multiple myeloma is low in South Africa, despite it being a more common form of cancer than leukaemia.

Campaigning for Cancer, based in Bryanston, hosted a webinar with experts and patients suffering from this disease to discuss the nature of cancer as well as challenges and barriers to treatment in South Africa.

Clinical haematologist Dr Hannes Koornhof described multiple myeloma as a bone marrow cancer affecting plasma cells. Common symptoms included fatigue, shortness of breath, anaemia, bone weakness, renal failure and high calcium levels.

Koornhof said some patients with multiple myeloma were asymptomatic and did not require immediate treatment and others were symptomatic and in need of aggressive treatment.

He said while the average age for the disease was 70, South Africans have commonly presented with symptoms from 50 years old and even younger. He added that those with multiple myeloma were more susceptible to severe Covid-19, however, there was not much evidence to suggest that the vaccine would be effective in warding off the virus.

Clinical haematologist Dr Lucille Singh said she would rather err on the side of caution and vaccinate patients in the hope that it would make a difference.

She added that remission and relapse after being treated for myeloma was common.

“Patients need to be treated aggressively during the first symptomatic bout so that they can be in remission for as long as possible and therefore live longer,” said Singh.

The reason for relapse and resistance to later treatments was a result of the mutation of cells.

There is no known cure for multiple myeloma, however, treatment options have improved dramatically over the decades to increase life expectancy.

Treatments for multiple myeloma vary according to the patient’s age, comorbidities and access to good medical aid.

Singh said South Africa was far behind many other countries in the world, with state patients having access to treatments used in other countries in the 1990s and entry-level medical aid patients not far behind.

Member of the patient advisory board and well-known paddler Oscar Chalupsky said his experience of the disease and treatment options have been very different to others without the means. He added that at one stage he was paying R100 000 for treatment – something that most people could not afford.

A multiple myeloma fund has been created to improve medication availability in South Africa and support the disenfranchised to receive treatment.

Multiple myeloma patient Stuart Lowe said he had been privileged to be able to afford the treatment which had increased his life expectancy, but wanted to see people without access receive quality treatment too.

Community members who would like to donate to the multiple myeloma fund are urged to email multiplemyeloma@campaign4cancer.co.za

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/248837/roche-gives-r100-000-to-reach-for-recovery/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/185505/cancer-survivors-share-their-stories-of-hope/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/104132/miss-south-africa-launches-cancer-awareness-campaign/