Analysis of Updates in Multiple Myeloma Treatment and Management

INTRODUCTION: During the past two decades, new therapeutic agents have greatly improved the treatment landscape in multiple myeloma (MM). Treatments such as proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, targeted monoclonal antibody therapy, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy have improved outcomes with less toxicity. Advances in laboratory testing have accompanied this change, performing faster and more accurate assessments of treatment response. Despite these advances, however, disparities in MM outcomes persist. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to review epidemiological trends in MM over the past two decades and to identify disparities that may impact MM identification and survival. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was conducted on adult patients diagnosed with MM between the years 2000–2019 using the November 2021 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program database. Joinpoint models were used to calculate annual percent changes (APCs) and average annual percent change (AAPC). RESULTS: There were a total of 111,328 diagnoses of MM extracted from the SEER database. Most patients were male (55.17%) and white (76.7%). Age-adjusted rate analysis found a significantly higher incidence among black patients compared to white patients. The APC between 2000–2015 was 1.46, and the APC between 2015–2019 was −1.34. Relative survival also increased from 2000 to 2014. The 5-year cancer survival in MM also increased at an average of 1.8% for every year after diagnosis. The annual probability of MM-related mortality at the 1-year mark also decreased from 28.5% in 2000 to 16.7% in 2018. CONCLUSION: Novel advances in MM therapeutic agents and diagnostic testing have paved the way for significant improvements in patient survival outcomes. Disparities persist along racial lines. Further research is needed to evaluate responses to specific MM treatment in the age of newly developed targeted therapies to overcome these disparities.