Predicting Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Myeloma After Initial Relapse
Posted: Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Achievement of a complete response after first-line treatment seems to delay disease progression and may predict improved survival, even after relapse, in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. These findings were presented by Nidhi Tandon, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues, at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Abstract 3030).
“This novel information could be useful in planning better salvage therapies in the challenging patient population with relapsed disease,” the investigators reported.
This retrospective analysis focused on data from 1,079 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma seen at the Mayo Clinic between 2004 and 2015. Of these patients, 190 achieved a complete response, and 889 did not.
The median follow-up for the entire cohort was 84.1 months from the start of first-line treatment and 47.1 months from the start of second-line treatment. During follow-up, 594 patients experienced a second relapse or disease progression: 97 among those who achieved a complete response after first-line treatment and 497 among those who did not.
Median progression-free survival after first- and second-line treatments was significantly longer for patients who achieved a complete response with first-line therapy—60.1 months after first-line treatment and 17.7 months after second-line treatment—compared with those who did not achieve a complete response after first-line therapy—43.6 months and 14.5 months, respectively. Similarly, median overall survival after second-line treatment was significantly longer for those who achieved a complete response (58.1 months) than for those who did not (40.5 months).
