Population-based study reveals racial disparities in incidence and survival rates of multiple myeloma, indicating access issues.
Key Points
This research aims to investigate racial disparities in the incidence and outcomes of multiple myeloma between black and white patients.
Conducted a population-based study using 5798 black and 28939 white multiple myeloma patients from SEER registries, 1973-2005.
Calculated age-adjusted incidence rates, disease-specific survival, and relative survival rates by race, age, and diagnosis period.
Analyzed survival trends over time for both racial groups from 1973 to 2005.
Incidence among blacks was twice that of whites, especially prominent in individuals under 50 (P = .002).
Blacks displayed better disease-specific and relative survival rates than whites over the whole study (P < .001).
5-year relative survival rates for whites improved significantly over the years, while improvements among blacks were smaller and not statistically significant (P = .07).