Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells, which are white blood cells that produce disease- and infection-fighting antibodies, and affects bone marrow. It is most common in older adults and about 40% of patients die within five years of their diagnosis.
Researchers sought to understand the relationship between race, socioeconomic barriers, disparities to therapy access, and patient outcomes in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients receiving modern triplet or quadruplet regimens. They identified 1,743 patients across ten participating sites who were non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black, and evaluated outcomes based on progression-free survival and overall survival.
They found that social deprivation index scores — a score quantifying disadvantage across zip codes based on demographic characteristics like education level, unemployment, and more — were seen to be higher in non-Hispanic Black compared to non-Hispanic White patients, which drives different outcomes among different races, rather than race and ethnicity alone. Adjustment for factors, like social deprivation index, is critical to interpretation of survival outcomes by race.
