- Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a blood condition that can occur before a type of cancer found in plasma cells called myeloma.
- Some modifiable risk factors may have an association with MGUS, but more research is needed to determine their significance.
- Experts argue people living with obesity shouldn’t be too concerned about the risk of MGUS and that other potential health complications of obesity are more urgent.
Smoking, poor sleep, and obesity may increase the risk for a blood condition that precedes a particular type of cancer, but experts say more research is needed.
Research published in the journal Blood Advances reports that some modifiable risk factors such as smoking and obesity may raise the risk of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a condition that can occur before a type of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma develops.
“While significant advancements have been made in therapeutics for multiple myeloma, it remains an incurable disease, often diagnosed after patients have already experienced end-organ damage,” Dr. David Lee, a co-author of the study and an internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a press release.
“It’s preceded by premalignant conditions including MGUS. Our research group is focused on investigating risk factors and etiology of MGUS to better understand who may be at increased risk for developing MGUS and its progression to multiple myeloma,” he added.
MGUS is a condition in which the blood contains higher than normal levels of a protein known as M protein.
In the majority of cases, MGUS is not problematic. The risk of a person progressing from MGUS to myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, is 1% per year.
In myeloma, a type of white blood cell found in the bone marrow builds up, creating tumors throughout the bones in the body.
The most significant
The disease is more common in men and is twice as common in Black people than in white people.
Being overweight or having obesity is also a known risk factor for myeloma.
“There’s a well known relationship between MGUS and myeloma and obesity. This is something that has been known for some time. There’s been a link between obesity and an increased risk of individuals being found to have MGUS, smoldering myeloma or active myeloma,” Dr. Brian Durie, the chief scientific officer of the International Myeloma Foundation and a hematologist and oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today.
“There’s also a correlation between obesity and a lot of other things, other kinds of cancer, other kind of things that may be going on with your immune system,” he added.
In the new study, the researchers suggest that being obese is associated with a 73% greater chance of having MGUS, when compared with individuals who don’t have obesity. However, while the researchers note a possible connection between obesity and MGUS, they note there is not enough evidence to prove causation.
“MGUS is a fairly common thing.
“A lot of people have looked for the last seven or 10 years on the influence of obesity and progression of MGUS and there has been some scientifically plausible explanations involving a
The study authors argue their research will help guide further studies into the role of modifiable risk factors and cancer risk.
“Before we can develop effective preventative health strategies to lower the risk of serious diseases like multiple myeloma, we first need to better understand the relationship between MGUS and potentially modifiable risk factors like obesity,” Lee said.
Durie argues there is not yet enough data to support the idea that making lifestyle changes in response to modifiable risk factors will make a difference to MGUS or to myeloma outcomes. But he notes some data from animal studies suggest it is an area worth investigating in the future.
“Having a modifiable risk factor is terribly important. You could have people make effort to reduce their obesity and there are data indicating that that could improve the outcomes. So this is in the big scheme of things. It’s quite important at the patient level, because it’s something that you could do about it,” he said.
Both Durie and Schiller emphasize that those living with obesity and other risk factors examined in the study should not be overly concerned about their risk for developing MGUS and, in turn, myeloma.
“Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance is not a disease and not everybody with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance will ever have evolution to myeloma. As a matter of fact, we estimate that the risk of progression is about 1 percent per year. The vast majority of patients with MGUS will never live to develop myeloma. They are elderly and they’ll die of an unrelated cause,” Durie said.
Schiller argues that for people living with obesity, there are other more urgent potential health risks that need to be addressed.
“I’m not sure that MGUS is a disease entity in search of prevention,” he said. “I think there’s so many other things that obesity is associated with that are disease states that are truly immediately life threatening, like hypertension, and diabetes, hyperlipidemia and consequent stroke and heart attack. I think that those abnormalities, those diseases really present a much more urgent need to prevent than MGUS.”
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) ni ugonjwa wa damu unaoweza kutokea kabla ya aina ya kansa inayopatikana katika chembe za plasma inayoitwa myeloma. - Baadhi ya sababu za hatari zinazoweza kubadilishwa zinaweza kuwa na uhusiano na MGUS, lakini utafiti zaidi unahitajika kuamua umuhimu wao. Wataalamu wanasema watu wanaoishi na unene wa kupita kiasi hawapaswi kuwa na wasiwasi sana juu ya hatari ya MGUS na kwamba matatizo mengine ya afya ya unene wa kupita kiasi ni ya haraka zaidi. Kuvuta sigara, usingizi wa kutosha na unene kupita kiasi vinaweza kuongeza hatari ya ugonjwa wa damu unaotangulia aina fulani ya kansa, lakini wataalamu wanasema utafiti zaidi unahitajika. Utafiti uliochapishwa katika jarida la Blood Advances unaripoti kuwa baadhi ya sababu za hatari zinazoweza kubadilishwa kama vile kuvuta sigara na unene wa kupita kiasi zinaweza kuongeza hatari ya monoclonal gametopathy ya umuhimu usiojulikana (MGUS), hali ambayo inaweza kutokea kabla ya aina ya kansa ya damu inayojulikana kama multiple myeloma. "Wakati maendeleo makubwa yamefanywa katika matibabu ya multiple myeloma, bado ni ugonjwa usioweza kutibiwa, mara nyingi unagunduliwa baada ya wagonjwa kuwa tayari wamepata uharibifu wa viungo vya mwisho, ""Daktari David Lee, mwandishi mwenza wa utafiti na mkazi wa dawa ya ndani katika Hospitali Kuu ya Massachusetts, alisema katika taarifa ya vyombo vya habari." <unk> Ni preceded na hali premalignant ikiwa ni pamoja na MGUS. """Kundi letu la utafiti limeelekezwa kwenye kuchunguza sababu za hatari na etiolojia ya MGUS ili kuelewa vizuri ni nani anayeweza kuwa na hatari ya kuongezeka kwa kuendeleza MGUS na maendeleo yake kwa myeloma nyingi." MgS ni hali ambayo damu ina viwango vya juu kuliko kawaida ya protini inayojulikana kama protini ya M. Katika kesi nyingi, MGUS si tatizo. Uwezekano wa mtu kuendeleza ugonjwa wa Myeloma, kansa ya chembe za plasma, ni 1% kwa mwaka. Katika myeloma, aina ya chembe nyeupe za damu zinazopatikana katika uti wa mgongo hujikusanya, na kuunda uvimbe katika mifupa yote ya mwili. Ugonjwa huo ni wa kawaida zaidi kwa wanaume na ni mara mbili ya kawaida kwa watu weusi kuliko kwa watu weupe. Kuwa na uzito kupita kiasi au kuwa na unene kupita kiasi pia ni jambo linalojulikana la hatari ya myeloma. <unk> Kuna uhusiano unaojulikana kati ya MGUS na myeloma na unene wa kupita kiasi. Jambo hilo limejulikana kwa muda fulani. "Kuna uhusiano kati ya unene wa mwili na kuongezeka kwa hatari ya watu kuwa na MGUS, myeloma inayowaka moto au myeloma hai, ""Daktari Brian Durie, afisa mkuu wa kisayansi wa International Myeloma Foundation na mtaalamu wa damu na oncologist katika Kituo cha Matibabu cha Cedars-Sinai huko Los Angeles ambaye hakuhusika katika utafiti huo, aliiambia Medical News Today." "Kuna pia uhusiano kati ya unene wa kupita kiasi na mambo mengine mengi, aina nyingine za kansa, aina nyingine za mambo ambayo yanaweza kuwa yanaendelea na mfumo wako wa kinga", aliongeza. Katika utafiti huo, watafiti wanasema kuwa kuwa na uzito wa juu kunahusiana na uwezekano mkubwa wa kupata ugonjwa wa MGS kwa asilimia 73 ikilinganishwa na watu wasio na uzito wa juu. Hata hivyo, wakati watafiti wanabainisha uhusiano unaowezekana kati ya unene wa mwili na MGUS, wanabainisha hakuna ushahidi wa kutosha kuthibitisha sababu. <unk>MGUS ni jambo la kawaida sana. "Watu wengi wamekuwa wakitafuta kwa miaka saba au kumi iliyopita juu ya ushawishi wa unene wa mwili na maendeleo ya MGUS na kumekuwa na baadhi ya maelezo ya kisayansi ya kuaminika yanayohusisha ""mfano wa ugonjwa wa kansa"" na ""mfano wa ugonjwa wa kansa"" na ""mfano wa ugonjwa wa kansa"" na ""mfano wa ugonjwa wa kansa.""" "Kabla hatujaweza kuendeleza mikakati ya afya ya kuzuia yenye ufanisi ili kupunguza hatari ya magonjwa mazito kama vile multiple myeloma, kwanza tunahitaji kuelewa vizuri uhusiano kati ya MGUS na sababu za hatari zinazoweza kubadilishwa kama vile unene wa kupita kiasi, "Lee alisema. "Durie anasema ""hakuna data ya kutosha kuunga mkono wazo kwamba kufanya mabadiliko ya mtindo wa maisha kwa kujibu sababu za hatari zinazoweza kubadilishwa itafanya tofauti kwa matokeo ya MGUS au myeloma.""" Lakini anasema baadhi ya data kutoka kwa masomo ya wanyama zinaonyesha ni eneo linalostahili kuchunguzwa katika siku zijazo. <unk>Kuwa na sababu ya hatari inayoweza kubadilishwa ni muhimu sana. Watu wanaweza kufanya juhudi za kupunguza unene wao, na kuna data inayoonyesha kwamba inaweza kuboresha matokeo. Kwa hiyo hii ni katika mpango mkubwa wa mambo. Ni muhimu sana katika ngazi ya mgonjwa, kwa sababu ni kitu ambacho unaweza kufanya kuhusu hilo, "alisema. "Durie na Schiller wanasema kwamba ""watu walio na ugonjwa wa kunenepa kupita kiasi na wengine ambao ni hatari ya kuugua ugonjwa huo hawapaswi kuwa na wasiwasi sana kuhusu hatari yao ya kuugua ugonjwa wa MERS na baadaye myeloma.""" <unk> Monoclonal gammopathy ya umuhimu unspecified si ugonjwa na si kila mtu na monoclonal gammopathy ya umuhimu unspecified milele kuwa na mageuzi ya myeloma. Kwa kweli, tunakadiria kuwa hatari ya maendeleo ni karibu asilimia 1 kwa mwaka. Wengi wa wagonjwa wenye MGUS hawatakuwa hai kamwe ili kuendeleza myeloma. Wao ni wazee na watakufa kwa sababu isiyo na uhusiano, "Durie alisema. Schiller anasema kwamba kwa watu wanaoishi na unene wa kupita kiasi, kuna hatari nyingine za afya zinazoweza kutokea ambazo zinahitaji kushughulikiwa. "Sijui kama MGUS ni ugonjwa unaotafuta kuzuia", alisema. "Nafikiri kuna mambo mengine mengi ambayo unene wa mwili unahusishwa nayo ambayo ni hali za ugonjwa ambazo kwa kweli ni hatari kwa maisha, kama shinikizo la damu, na kisukari, hyperlipidemia na matokeo ya kiharusi na mshtuko wa moyo. """ "Nadhani kwamba magonjwa hayo yanaonyesha haja kubwa zaidi ya kuzuia kuliko MGUS."""