Abstract
BACKGROUND Recently, improvement in overall survival (OS) was demonstrated in elderly patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Our aim here was to analyze treatment outcomes in elderly Chinese patients with MM in real-world practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS This retrospective study enrolled 122 newly diagnosed MM patients ages 65-84 between January 2007 and December 2015 in a single hematology department. RESULTS The median age of patients was 70.5 years. The median OS period of the entire cohort was 33 months; the 5-year OS estimate was 30.4%. The median OS of the 65-69, 70-74, and ≥75 years old groups were 43, 36, and 6 months, respectively. Female patients had better OS than male patients (40 and 28 months, P=0.026). Patients who received short-course bortezomib-containing regimens during their course of disease had a significantly longer median OS of 37 months compared with 28 months for patients without bortezomib treatment (P=0.029). Patients with age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (aaCCI) <5 showed longer median OS compared to those with aaCCI ³5 (45 months vs. 23 months, P<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that male sex, high aaCCI, and LDH were independent prognostic factor for OS. CONCLUSIONS The marked survival improvement in the elderly patients was associated with the increased use of short-course bortezomib. CCI and LDH are important clinical prognostic factors for survival in elderly MM patients.