Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Bristol Scientist Wins Blood Cancer UK Funding for Myeloma Research After Mother’s 2021 Diagnosis

Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Bristol Scientist Wins Blood Cancer UK Funding for Myeloma Research After Mother’s 2021 Diagnosis

Q: Will this research prove that lifestyle, not just genetics, dictates who develops this deadly blood cancer?

No. Dr. Lucy Goudswaard’s project could help show whether lifestyle factors such as sleep or obesity are linked to progression toward myeloma, but it will not by itself prove that lifestyle dictates who gets the disease. The study is designed to analyze people with MGUS, a precursor condition that only sometimes develops into myeloma. That means the research is aimed at understanding why some cases progress, not at definitively settling the broader cause of myeloma. At this stage, it is an investigation into risk factors and patterns, not proof of causation. The wider evidence also does not support an either-or choice between lifestyle and genetics. Family history is recognized as a risk factor, even if myeloma is not strongly hereditary in most cases. At the same time, researchers have explored possible roles for obesity, inflammation, immune changes, chemical exposure and other non-genetic influences. But the causes of myeloma are still not fully understood, and many suspected links remain associations rather than proven drivers. That is why this research matters. If Dr. Goudswaard can identify modifiable factors that raise the odds of MGUS progressing to myeloma, it could open the door to prevention strategies or earlier intervention. But proving that lifestyle outweighs genetics would require much broader evidence, including repeated studies and ideally trials showing that changing those factors reduces disease risk.

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Dr Lucy Goudswaard secured Blood Cancer UK funding to study myeloma after her mother Joy was diagnosed with the incurable blood cancer in 2021, prompting her to switch from cardiovascular research at the University of Bristol.
Starting in August 2026, her fellowship will analyze data from people with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS, to examine why some cases progress to myeloma and whether factors such as obesity or poor sleep play a role.
Joy Goudswaard’s illness shaped the project directly: persistent pain led to scans showing holes in bones including her spine, pelvis and hip, followed by intensive chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant during what she called a "year of hell."
Joy is now in partial remission after a therapy that lowered her cancer levels, and Lucy said newer NHS myeloma drugs offer further options if the current treatment stops working.
Blood Cancer UK said myeloma remains incurable despite treatment advances, casting the Bristol study as part of a broader push to understand blood cancers better and move closer to prevention or a cure.