treatment advancements, survival rates for Black American multiple myeloma patients have not been in lockstep with survival rates of other multiple myeloma patient populations.6
Dr. Tondre Buck of the Gibbs Cancer Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, offers some commentary, “The exact reasons for these disparities is unknown, but the fact remains that Black Americans are impacted by multiple myeloma at a higher rate than their White counterparts and more research is needed to better understand this.”
Let’s recap. What do we know? We know multiple myeloma is the most common blood cancer for Black Americans.1 We know it’s diagnosed at a higher rate at a younger age for Black Americans versus other demographic groups.2
Ok. So, now what? How do we overcome the disparities in outcomes for Black Americans? How do we treat patients with multiple myeloma?
Well, the good news is (yes, there is good news) treatment options for multiple myeloma have greatly advanced in the past decade, especially with improving progression-free survival rates for patients.
At the same time, there is no cure, so patients will most likely relapse at some point.7 For some patients, the cancer may respond to initial treatment, but may not respond to treatment following a relapse.7
Patients and their families may hear the terms “relapsed” and “refractory” used to describe their disease, and it is important for them to understand what these words mean – and how they differ.
Relapsed multiple myeloma is the term for when the cancer returns after treatment or a period of remission, while refractory multiple myeloma refers to when the cancer does not respond or no longer responds to therapy.7
The challenges physicians face