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A few years ago, Brian Durie and his colleagues at the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) identified a problem. They knew that people who develop multiple myeloma previously had its benign precursor, a condition known as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). But they also knew that most doctors don’t routinely screen for this condition, in which plasma B cells harmlessly produce an abnormal peptide called M protein. As a result, most cases are never diagnosed unless patients develop multiple myeloma or related diseases. (Progression to malignancy is not inevitable, but some estimates put the risk as high as nearly 40 percent over a lifetime.)
“To have a chance to cure the disease, you really need to be able to intervene in patients who have early ...
