Quality Care Symposium: Steady Improvement in Survival in Multiple Myeloma
Posted: Thursday, October 4, 2018
Since 2003, the introduction of novel therapies has significantly improved survival rates in patients with multiple myeloma, according to a study presented by Rafael Fonseca, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium (Abstract 98). As a result of a host of treatment options for patients with multiple myeloma becoming available since the introduction of bortezomib, including lenalidomide and thalidomide in 2006 and more recently carfilzomib and pomalidomide, overall survival was 51% longer in those diagnosed with myeloma from 2010 to 2014 than in those diagnosed from 1998 to 2002.
Patients with multiple myeloma were identified using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program cancer registry; included were individuals diagnosed between 1983 and 2014. The study authors compared survival gains for patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 with those diagnosed between 1998 and 2002.
Of the 88,462 patients in the overall sample registry, 14,446 were diagnosed between 1998 and 2002, and 25,948 were diagnosed between 2010 and 2014. Overall survival was improved by 51% in patients diagnosed more recently compared with those diagnosed prior to 2003 (P < .001). On average, survival among more recently diagnosed patients was 2.27 years longer than those diagnosed prior to the development of novel therapies.
