Myeloma may have made Colin Powell more vulnerable to dying of COVID-19
CBSN
After former Secretary of State Colin Powell's death from complications of COVID-19, experts pointed out that the 84-year-old Powell had a history of medical conditions that significantly raised his risk of severe COVID-19, though he was fully vaccinated.
Among them, Powell had multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that, both by itself and as a result of treatments given for the disease, can weaken the immune system.
"Myeloma patients, they make a lot of antibodies. But, they only make one type. So their ability to make normal antibodies to fend off infections is impaired. They also have T-cell, or cellular immunity, defects that contribute to their inability not only to fight off infections, but mount effective responses to vaccines," said Dr. James Berenson, medical and scientific director of the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research.
