Abstract
Introduction
Multiple myeloma (MM) has characteristics that influence the prognosis and are useful to make decisions regarding treatment. Diagnosis and treatment patterns of hematological malignancies have not been described in Colombia and having access to this regional information could guide public health policies and help design clinical trials. The Colombian Association of Hematology and Oncology (ACHO) designed a registry for Hemato-Oncological diseases to fill this information gap. This is the first report of RENEHOC focusing on MM.
Methods
We conducted an ambispective multi-centric cohort study of clinical records available from patients with MM that were diagnosed in the most populated regions of Colombia. We collected demographic, diagnostic, clinical and treatment data at different time points from diagnosis to the most current follow up. The computerized de-identified data was consolidated and analyzed using basic statistical measures of central tendency and dispersion. The most current follow up included data available from last clinic visit, loss of follow up, death or withdrawal of consent. This study was approved by local and centralized institutional review board.
Results
We analyzed data from 206 MM patients (pts). Average age at diagnosis was 62.9 (SD 10.2) years and 51.4% of pts were male. Most common symptoms at diagnosis were bone pain (74.2%), anemia related (58.2%) and pathological fractures (45.1%). Mean time from symptoms to diagnosis was 7.3 (Range 1-44) months. Baseline mean hemoglobin, creatinine and calcium serum levels were 10.5 g/dL, 1.58 mg/dL and 9.2 mg/dL respectively. At diagnosis, 22% of patients presented with renal failure and 30% required dialysis.
Immunoglobulin (Ig) subtype distribution was: IgG 50.6%, IgA 20.6%, only light chain secretion (61% Kappa) and IgM 1.1%. In 11.6% all Igs were low. Most pts were diagnosed at advanced stages (64.5% Durie-Salmon III, and 37% and 47% International Staging System II and III respectively). Molecular prognostic characterization was performed only in 39 patients (18.4%).
Four patients were considered too fragile for active treatment. The most common initial treatment was triple combinations that included Bortezomib (84% of patients). Among those, CyBorD was the most frequently used first line therapy (58.3%), followed by VTD (14.6%). Mean number of cycles was 4.8 (SD 2.5). Overall Response Rate (ORR) 74.7% was observed. Only 40% of patients treated with intense induction therapy received autologous transplant. Response to treatment including transplant are shown in table 1. Second and further lines of treatment were highly variable. 18 patients were treated with a second autologous transplantation consolidating 2nd line therapy. 12 patients received Carfilzomib combinations, all of them in 2nd line. 5 patients were treated with Daratumumab, all >2nd line. Mean follow-up time was 33.53 (SD 3.6) months. After a median follow up of 27 months we observed in our cohort an overall survival of 82% and 68% of patients progression-free. .
Conclusions
This first report focusing on MM highlights important differences on patient's characteristics and treatment in Colombian patients. This includes and treatment initiation due to insurance barriers; high risk clinical characteristics and complications upon diagnosis and low rate of transplantation in patients otherwise eligible for this procedure. Rates of response to induction seem slightly lower than reported (CB Reeder 2009). However, overall survival and progression-free survival met the expectations for this type of patients. The development of country specific databases may influence the design of policies, allocation and use of resources and improve patient outcomes. Only cooperative efforts like the one spearheaded by RENEHOC can achieve those goals.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
