Multiple Myeloma Central

• Multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in a plasma cell, doesn’t always require immediate treatment if the cancer is at an early stage. This is also known as smoldering multiple myeloma.
• Certain warning signs that clinicians look for when determining if a patient’s smoldering multiple myeloma has progressed to an active stage are CRAB features: calcium elevated, renal failure, anemia or bone lesions.
• Patients usually develop myeloma in their bone marrow throughout their body. However, it can also begin in one part of the body or develop outside of bone in soft tissue.
• While not curative, several treatments exist for multiple myeloma including targeted therapy, immuno- or chemotherapy, radiation therapy, corticosteroids or bone marrow transplant.
• Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is advancing as an innovative treatment for multiple myeloma. The FDA approved a CAR T-cell agent, idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma), in March of 2021 for treating myeloma.
• This cancer is rare in the U.S. with a risk factor of 1 diagnosis in every 132 people. The American Cancer Society predicts 34,920 new cases of multiple myeloma will occur in 2021.
• Men have a slightly higher risk for developing multiple myeloma than women.
• It is twice as common among Black Americans. Also, someone with a family history of multiple myeloma is more likely to develop it.
• Between 2011 and 2017, the relative survival rate among patients with multiple myeloma was 55.6%.
• After a peak of new cases in 2015, the amount of recorded new myeloma cases has slowly started to decrease, along with the death rate.
• According to the WHO, the number of myeloma cases worldwide in 2020 reached 176,404. That same year, 117,077 people with multiple myeloma died.
• With standardization, Australia and New Zealand had the highest cumulative risks and incidence rates for multiple myeloma in 2020, with the U.S. as a close second.

References:

American Cancer Society. Key statistics about multiple myeloma. Available at https://www.cancer.org/cancer/multiple-myeloma/about/key-statistics.html. Accessed June 9, 2021.

American Cancer Society. Risk factors for multiple myeloma. Available at https://www.cancer.org/cancer/multiple-myeloma/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html. Accessed June 9, 2021.

CDC. Myeloma. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/myeloma/index.htm. Accessed June 9, 2021.

Mayo Clinic. Multiple Myeloma. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/multiple-myeloma/symptoms-causes/syc-20353378. Accessed June 9, 2021.

Myeloma Crowd. When does smoldering myeloma become active myeloma? Available at https://www.myelomacrowd.org/myeloma-101-when-does-smoldering-myeloma-become-active-myeloma/. Accessed June 9, 2021.

National Cancer Institute. Cancer stat facts: myeloma. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/mulmy.html. Accessed June 9, 2021.

National Cancer Institute. FDA approves BCMA-targeted CAR T-cell therapy for multiple myeloma. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2021/fda-ide-cel-car-t-multiple-myeloma. Accessed June 9, 2021.

World Health Organization. Multiple Myeloma. Available at: https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/cancers/35-Multiple-myeloma-fact-sheet.pdf. Accessed June 9, 2021.