Multiple myeloma treatment has improved significantly in recent years. However, mortality early in the course of the disease is still common. This study focuses on discovering trends in early mortality. The researchers sought to better understand demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with early mortality, which can then be used to better target resources for those at risk.
This study relied on The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database to identify individuals diagnosed with multiple myeloma between 1975 and 2015. Multivariate analysis was used to associate sociodemographic factors with early mortality, defined as death within six months of multiple myeloma diagnosis. Trends in early mortality were then studied using joinpoint regression analysis.
Overall, early mortality was observed in 21% of patients in the study. Male gender, “other” race/ethnicity, advancing age, and location in the West, Midwest, and Southern regions were associated with higher rates of early mortality. The researchers concluded that there is more work to be done regarding early mortality and that understanding demographic trends is one step towards bettering outcomes for those who are at risk [1].
Source:
[1] Kumar, V., Ailawadhi, M., Dutta, N., Abdulazeez, M., Aggarwal, C. S., Quintero, G., Baksh, M., Roy, V., Sher, T., Alegria, V., Paulus, A., Chanan-Khan, A., & Ailawadhi, S. (2021). Trends in early mortality from multiple myeloma: a population-based analysis. Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia, 21(5), e449–e455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clml.2020.12.023
