Clinicopathological characteristics of extremely young Korean multiple myeloma patients: therapeutic implications.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although multiple myeloma (MM) is typically a disease of the elderly, a certain subset of extremely young patients exists. It is necessary to establish clinicopathological characteristics for this population.

METHODS

We reviewed the medical records of MM patients whose age was 40 years or younger at diagnosis.

RESULTS

A total of 32 patients were analyzed (male to female ratio 19:13, median age 37 years). According to International Staging System, 29%, 48%, and 16% were in stage I, II, and III, respectively. Light chain myeloma accounted for 30%. Clinically significant anemia, hypercalcemia, azotemia, and hypoalbuminemia were present in 29%, 28%, 13%, and 28%, respectively. Three or more lytic bone lesions were detected in 45% of the patients, whereas 13% had no lytic bone lesions. Regarding treatment, 79% of patients received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. After a median follow-up duration of 64 months, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 84%, 62%, and 54%, respectively. The median OS was 61 months for the entire cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

In our study, MM patients aged 40 years or younger at diagnosis showed no superior survival compared to those of the moderately elderly patients based on historical data.