Epidemiologic and age-dependent data on multiple myeloma in Austria.

The mortality rates for multiple myeloma showed an increasing trend between 1969 and 1979, when multiple myeloma accounted for 6% of the reported cancer deaths in Austria. The median age at diagnosis was relatively high: 68.5 years for males and 69.0 years for females. The age-corrected male:female ratio of 1.23:1 indicated a higher incidence of multiple myeloma in males. Age-standardized (standard population for Europe) incidence rates amounted to 1.5/100,000 male inhabitants and 1.2/100,000 female inhabitants/year. In subsample of patients with multiple myeloma, the paraprotein types as well as the k:lambda ratio resembled the frequency distribution of normal immunoglobulins. There were no age-related differences for the stages of the disease and the poor risk factors at diagnosis for patients 85 years old or younger or for those over 65 years of age at diagnosis. Survival rates were significantly higher for younger patients than for older ones, with a 50% survival time of 45 and 26 months, respectively. The differences resulted solely from the dissimilar general life expectancies in both groups, and survival rates with strict regard to multiple myeloma proved to be identical in younger and older patients.