Multiple myeloma care at Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic specialists offer comprehensive care for people with multiple myeloma.
Your Mayo Clinic care team
At Mayo Clinic, you'll receive care from a team of doctors that works together to understand your goals and meet all of your needs.
There are many hematologists working at Mayo Clinic campuses. Some are dedicated to caring for people with multiple myeloma. The large number of experts means that your doctor can take the time to get to know you and carefully customize your treatments to meet your goals.
Your care team may include:
Having all this expertise in a single place, focused on you, means that you're not just getting one opinion. Your care is discussed among the team. At Mayo Clinic, your test results are available quickly and appointments are coordinated so that you can get answers in a matter of days.
Advanced diagnosis and treatment
Mayo Clinic experts have access to the latest advances in multiple myeloma diagnosis and treatment, including:
- Specialized lab testing to analyze the genetic makeup of your myeloma cells to understand your prognosis and customize your treatments. Experienced and highly trained hematopathologists, who specialize in analyzing blood cells, use the latest laboratory techniques.
- Personalized myeloma treatments that target the vulnerabilities present in your particular cancer cells.
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Minimal residual disease (MRD) testing with highly sensitive techniques that can detect one myeloma cell hiding in a sample of millions of cells taken from your bone marrow. MRD testing after treatment helps your doctor detect miniscule numbers of myeloma cells.
Mayo Clinic has the latest technology for MRD testing, including advanced lab tests, such as next-generation sequencing, and imaging tests, combined positron emission tomography (PET) and CT scanning, and PET combined with MRI.
- Excellence in bone marrow transplant care by Mayo Clinic's bone marrow transplant team, which is recognized internationally for expertise in comprehensive specialty treatment for people with blood and bone marrow diseases, including multiple myeloma.
- Active clinical trials program conducted by Mayo Clinic multiple myeloma experts who are studying the latest treatments and tests. At any given time, there are several active trials being conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers.
Experience you can trust
Mayo Clinic specialists care for more than 4,600 people with multiple myeloma each year. The depth of experience by multiple myeloma specialists at Mayo Clinic means that your care team is prepared with the knowledge and resources to provide you with exactly the care you need.
Mayo Clinic multiple myeloma specialists have been on the forefront of understanding and treating this cancer since 1960, when doctor and researcher Robert A. Kyle, M.D. of Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, published his first paper on multiple myeloma diagnosis.
Other multiple myeloma innovations by Mayo Clinic doctors include:
- Establishing a research database that contains more than 250,000 blood and bone marrow samples and tracks nearly 50,000 patients. First started in the 1960s, researchers use the database to track outcomes and develop an understanding of myeloma prognosis.
- Developing myeloma staging and classification systems including the International Staging System and the Mayo Stratification for Myeloma and Risk-Adapted Therapy (mSMART). These systems help doctors understand your prognosis and determine your treatment options. Researchers around the world use these systems to categorize clinical trial participants and provide meaningful data on treatment outcomes.
- Improving molecular understanding of myeloma by developing the first molecular cytogenetic classification system and expanding the understanding of how certain gene mutations affect prognosis.
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Contributing to the development of multiple myeloma drugs including carfilzomib, thalidomide (Thalomid), lenalidomide (Revlimid), pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and the cyclophosphamide-bortezomib-dexamethasone (CyBorD) chemotherapy regimen.
Mayo Clinic researchers continue to conduct cutting-edge clinical trials aimed at developing the next generation of multiple myeloma drugs.
- Reporting the first successful use of virotherapy using an engineered measles virus to fight recurrent multiple myeloma.
Mayo Clinic doctors are continuing their cutting-edge research to discover the next innovations in multiple myeloma diagnosis and treatment. Researchers are studying new virotherapy treatments and immunotherapy treatments, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, which takes your germ-fighting T cells, engineers them to attack cancer cells and places the cells back into your body.
Expertise and rankings
Mayo Clinic hematologists are respected for their expertise and experience in diagnosing and treating multiple myeloma.
Nationally recognized expertise
Outside organizations regularly recognize Mayo Clinic multiple myeloma specialists through accreditations, grants and rankings, including:
- Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center meets the strict standards for a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center. These standards recognize scientific excellence and a multispecialty approach focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
- Mayo Clinic is recognized as a multiple myeloma Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE), funded by the National Cancer Institute. To earn a highly competitive SPORE grant, institutions must demonstrate a high degree of collaboration between first-rate scientists and clinicians and show excellence in translational research projects.
- Mayo Clinic doctors contribute to and collaborate with colleagues around the world through the International Myeloma Working Group and the International Myeloma Foundation.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for cancer by U.S. News & World Report.
Locations, travel and lodging
Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.
For more information on visiting Mayo Clinic, choose your location below:
Costs and insurance
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.
In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.
Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.
Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.