Examining Secondary Primary Malignancies in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

In a study, published in Hematological Oncology, researchers examined the demographic characteristics, pathological features, and clinical disease course in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) plus secondary primary malignancies (SPM), and found that age and autologous stem cell transplantation were independently associated with the clinical outcomes of patients.

Interestingly, there was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) observed between patients with or without a SPM, according to lead author, Fei Fei, MD, and colleagues from the Department of Pathology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The retrospective chart analysis was performed on 871 patients with MM from the authors’ center. Among the patients with MM, 40 developed a SPM, of which 17 developed a hematological SPM and 23 developed solid SPM.

The median time from the initial diagnosis of MM to the development of SPM was 6.85 years for hematological malignancies and 3.91 years for solid malignancies. The median OS after diagnosis of hematological and solid SPM were 120 and 880 days, respectively.

Dr. Fei concluded that the data from the study “highlights the importance of understanding the etiology, biology, clinical outcome, and management in patients with MM and a SPM.”