Introduction:

Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer. It has extremely high mortality rates and there is still no cure for it.

Myeloma, like other blood diseases, goes through a benign stage called Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS) which, in most cases, does not progress to serious disease. However, for reasons that remain unknown, some of these patients develop much more serious conditions such as multiple myeloma.

The project:

In this project, Dr Paiva will study over 5000 patients to understand what causes this transformation from benign to fatal disease. He will also develop a diagnostic method applicable in daily medical practice, which will enable the timely and individualized identification of patients at risk of progressing to multiple myeloma. This method has the potential to save many lives.