Resveratrol & Myeloma

A cancer called multiple myeloma can damage the bones and kidneys, cause anemia and leave the body unprotected against infections. Yet, a minority of people with this disease will not have any symptoms. Current treatment includes chemotherapy, steroids and stem cell transplants. Resveratrol offers the promise of being another treatment.

What is Multiple Myeloma?

Multiple myeloma is a cancer which involves a type of white blood cells called the plasma cells. It is the plasma cells which, as part of the immune system, make the antibodies that attack foreign substances. There are an estimated 14,600 people diagnosed with this cancer every year at an average age of 71 years old, according to Gregory Seymour, M.D., Clinical Fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the "MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology." As many as 11,000 people die from this disease every year as well.

The Symptoms of Multiple Myeloma

Approximately 20 percent of the people with multiple myeloma do not have any symptoms, writes Dr. Seymour in the "MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology." For those who do have symptoms, the most common one is bone pain due to the malignant plasma cells destroying the bones. Some people may become anemic because there are so many abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow that the red blood cells cannot develop. Some develop kidney failure because parts of the antibodies damage the kidneys, and the abnormal antibodies do not give protection against bacterial infection.

Resveratrol and Bone Cells

Normally, bone is constantly reforming. Bone cells called osteoclasts break down the old bone, while the osteoblast bone cells build new bone. In an article in the November 1, 2005 issue of "Cancer Research," Patrice Boissy writes that multiple myeloma stimulates the osteoclasts and interferes with the osteoblasts. Thus, an effective treatment would target the abnormal plasma cells and the signals that they send to the bone cells. The researchers in this article found that resveratrol interferes with the growth of multiple myeloma and the breakdown of bone by the osteoclasts, but stimulates the osteoblasts.

Resveratrol and Blood Vessels

Hu Yu explains in the October 5, 2007 issue of the "Chinese Medical Journal" that multiple myeloma stimulates the production of blood vessels within the bone marrow and as the blood vessels develop, multiple myeloma develops as well. So, this group of researchers studied the effects of resveratrol in regards to the development of blood vessels. They found that resveratrol interferes with the development of blood vessels by multiple myeloma and because of this, they recommend that it may be a possible treatment for the disease.