[[This offers the prospect of cures at the genetic level]]
I believe there are ‘cures’ similar around now, but they involve some very dangerous procedures, and the person goes through hell getting it done
This treatment requires painful extractions of marrow cells using a large needle shoved deep into the hip bone, then chemotherapy, followed by slow transfusion of altered marrow cells that produce immune cells trained to attack the myeloma. This therapy is extending and may save my uncle's life, but it is frequently painful and immiserating.
In contrast, new methods under research make it possible to alter both stem cells and mature adult cells at the genetic level using relatively simple to administer injections and transfusions. Unlike current methods, these new techniques of genetic silencing and editing are extraordinarily precise. Early animal studies suggest that one shot cures may sometimes be possible.
Plausibly, it may one day be possible to silence or edit out offending rogue viral DNA that has made its way into the gut and immune systems of inflammatory bowel disease patients. Indeed, since the gut is relatively accessible to treatment and has a natural tolerance mechanism, there might not have to be the excruciating procedures that my uncle is presently enduring.