Sleep apnea and its possible effect on multiple myeloma
Official title: Sleep Disordered Breathing as a Targetable Risk Factor in Multiple Myeloma
Funded at University of Iowa · NIH-11235924 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at whether treating sleep apnea can help adults with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma respond better to therapy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Iowa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Iowa City, United States) |
| Project start | December 1, 2021 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $584,230 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA244271-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11235924 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (21+) with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are willing to undergo sleep testing and bone marrow sampling are the most appropriate candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without sleep-disordered breathing, those not willing to use CPAP, or those unwilling to have bone marrow testing may not directly benefit from this project.
What this research studies
You would have your sleep monitored overnight to see if low oxygen during sleep (chronic intermittent hypoxia) is present. Researchers would collect small bone marrow samples to measure immune cells called tumor-associated macrophages and examine their gene activity. If you use CPAP for sleep apnea, the team will compare how those cells change with treatment and follow your response to standard myeloma therapy. The goal is to learn whether fixing sleep breathing problems can improve the chance of remission.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, treating sleep apnea could improve chemotherapy response and increase the likelihood of complete remission in multiple myeloma patients.
How similar studies have gone: Laboratory and animal studies suggest intermittent low oxygen at night alters bone marrow immune cells, but clinical evidence that CPAP improves multiple myeloma outcomes is limited and this is a relatively new clinical direction.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Iowa
Iowa City, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tomasson, Michael H — University of Iowa
- Study coordinator: Tomasson, Michael H
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Investigating how sleep apnea affects blood cancer treatment outcomes
This study is looking at how sleep apnea might affect people with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, and whether using a CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea can help improve their cancer treatment results.
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Integrative study of multiple myeloma genetics and disease biology
A team at Dana-Farber and partners is pursuing a long-term project to understand the genetic and molecular drivers of multiple myeloma and how treatments interact with disease biology.
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Comparative Modeling to Prevent, Detect Early, and Treat Multiple Myeloma
A research team will build and compare computer models to understand how multiple myeloma develops, can be detected earlier, and treated more effectively.
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How LDL Affects Multiple Myeloma: New Pathways to Keep Remission
A new grant is studying how cholesterol from LDL particles fuels multiple myeloma and how this interaction influences the tumor environment and immune response, with goals to help patients stay in remission.
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Therapy-induced senescence and immune activation in multiple myeloma
A study in people with multiple myeloma will explore how treatment-related senescence in cancer cells may stimulate the immune system and affect cancer return after standard frontline therapy.
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BCMA CAR-T enteritis: understanding immune toxicities in multiple myeloma
A broad study to uncover why some CAR-T cell treatments targeting BCMA cause severe intestinal inflammation in people with multiple myeloma.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.