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What is multiple myeloma? Details of rare cancer Alabama AD is fighting

For more than a year, Alabama athletics director Bill Battle has known he has cancer.

Diagnosed with multiple myeloma last May, Battle has quietly gone through treatments in Tuscaloosa. He'll take a few weeks away from the office this summer getting a stem cell treatment in Atlanta. His situation is not considered life threatening and the treatment is routine, doctors said.

But what is multiple myeloma?

The rare form of cancer starts in the bone marrow, according to Emory University -- where Battle's stem cell transplant will take place. Only 30,000 people are diagnosed with it annually and it's mysterious because experts aren't quite sure what factors put people at risk.