Survival from multiple myeloma in England and Wales up to 2001

The study of myeloma survival reported by Gahrton et al (2001) in this issue of the British Journal of Cancer is both enlightening and challenging to clinicians managing this condition. Awareness of myeloma has been increased over the last few years as more refined diagnostic criteria ( Rajkumar et al, 2007 ), improved investigational techniques ( Ng et al, 2006 ) and better treatments have become available. Myeloma incidence increases with age, ( Phekoo et al, 2004 ) but even allowing for an increasingly ageing UK population there seems to be an increased incidence in younger patients, the cause of which is unknown.