Prognostic assessment of the Durie and Salmon staging system in patients with multiple myeloma

In a prospective study, covering a 10-year period, 109 patients with multiple myeloma (56 men and 53 women of mean age of 62) were followed. The patients were grouped according to the staging system of Durie & Salmon. They were treated uniformally with monochemotherapy with Cyclophosphamid, Melphalan and Glicocorticosteroids. The median survival for the different clinical stages was: I--53 months, II--31 and III--24 months. Significant difference between stages II and III with 98 patients (89.9%), was not found. Authentically, patients in II A compared to II B clinical stage had higher median survival of 40 and 26 months, respectively. So was IIIA compared to IIIB--38 and 18 months. It was found that the prognosis for the life expectancy of the patients depended to a greater degree on the extent of the renal function impairment at the time of diagnosis of the process, e.g., on the A and B substage (serum creatinin level > 160 mmol/l) than on the size of the tumour mass, respectively the clinical stage according to Durie & Salmon system.