Publication Date:
2012-11-16
Description:
Abstract 760 Introduction: The incidence of multiple myeloma (MM) increases with age, and the prognosis worsens. Comorbidities increase in prevalence with age, yet little is known about the impact of comorbid medical conditions on outcomes in MM. Methods: In a retrospectively-assembled cohort study, all patients with MM diagnosed between 1998 and 2009 at a Veterans' Administration (VA) hospital were identified in the VA central cancer registry. Patients who received no treatment within 6 months of diagnosis were excluded, eliminating those with smoldering myeloma or who received supportive care only. Comorbidities were ascertained from ICD-9 codes present prior to the diagnosis of MM, and categorized using the Romano adaptation of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The independent effects of age, race and comorbidities were examined using Cox proportional hazards modeling. The impact of individual comorbidities on survival was also examined, controlling for age and race. Results: A total of 2,968 patients were identified. The median age was 69 (range 27–92). The vast majority of patients (98%) were male; 28.6% of the patients were black. The median Charlson Comorbidity Index score was 2 (range 0–13). The frequencies of selected comorbidities were: diabetes (31%), renal impairment (23.8%), cardiovascular comorbidities (38.8%) and pulmonary (26.6%). The median overall survival (OS) for the entire cohort was 28.6 months at a median follow up of 26.8 months (range 0–137 months). On multivariate analysis, age was significantly associated with mortality [Hazard Ratio (HR) 1.03 per year (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.03–1.04), p
Print ISSN:
0006-4971
Electronic ISSN:
1528-0020
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
