Abstract
Introduction: Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by the neoplastic proliferation of a single clone of plasma cells producing a monoclonal immunoglobulin. It accounts for approximately 1 percent of all cancers and slightly more than 10 percent of hematologic malignancies in the United States. There is a scarcity on the information of myeloma in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Hence was this observational study from a single center in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. . Method:
Retrospective chart review of consecutive patients Diagnosed with Multiple myeloma in the period between 1st of May 2006 until end of December 2013 at King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam (KFSHD). Purpose:
to describe the presenting characteristics of MM patients in our region, treatment patterns prescribed with the outcome of therapy that include progression free survival and overall survival. Result:
63 patients with multiple myeloma were diagnosed and treated during this period. The percentage of patients with ECOG (≥2) is 52.3 % . 60 % of the patients had stage III international staging system (ISS). Only 17.4% received Triple agents as primary therapy as most of our patients received duplet therapy. 46% received High Dose therapy and Autologous stem cell transplantation. the PFS was 41.1 % and the OS of 69.1% at 95 months. Conclusion:
Our results showed that we had rather younger patient population with a median age of 60 compared to the average western myeloma patient population. Despite the relatively young age those patients unfortunately had relatively poor performance status and high ISS stage which correlate with worse clinical outcome. However, the response to therapy and the outcome of our patients were superior to the outcome of any cohort of patients with similar disease characteristic. This observation worth further studying which could be due to an unknown disease or treatment related factors that might affect positively the patient’s outcome.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Author notes
Asterisk with author names denotes non-ASH members.
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