Assessing Racial Disparities in the Use of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation as Consolidative Therapy for Multiple Myeloma

A study found no discernible difference in the usage rate of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) between Black and White individuals with multiple myeloma (MM), but the time to transplant tends to be shorter among Black patients. The results appeared in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia.

Researchers evaluated 194 patients with a confirmed MM diagnosis who were recommended for HCT between January 2009 and June 2019. Exclusion criteria was defined as any patients who received autologous stem cell transplant for relapsed MM. The researchers used Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess any correlations between patient overall survival (OS) and age of the diagnosis, race, socioeconomic status, disease cytogenetic, and initial induction regimens.

According to the results, there was no notable link observed between socioeconomic status and OS. However, the results showed that high-risk cytogenetic was markedly associated with shorter OS, higher transplant-related mortality, and relapse-related mortality. Moreover, the transplant tended to be shorter in Black people compared with other ethnic groups.

“There was no significant difference in the use rate of the HCT between Caucasians and AA patients with MM,” the researchers concluded. They added that “further comparative studies of MM induction therapy and access to clinical trials in African Americans and other racial minorities are warranted.”