Long-Term Survival in Multiple Myeloma: Report of Three Cases

MULTIPLE myeloma, except for the so-called solitary type, is considered to be an inevitably fatal disease of relatively short duration and, in the main, little influenced by therapy. In reviewing all cases of myeloma reported in the literature from 1848 to 1928, Geschicter and Copelandx noted that, in 425 cases, the longest survival was five years, with the average under two years. In sev-eral subsequent reports on large series of cases 2 » 3 » 4 » 5 » 6»7 the average duration of life after the onset of symptoms was from one and one-half to two years. Experience with a series of 57 cases has confirmed this general impression. However, the survival of three of our patients for over nine years has proved of considerable interest, and details of these cases, with a discussion of certain features, are reported in this paper. •Received for publication January 3, 1956.