Retrospective analysis of 264 multiple myeloma patients

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological malignancy in China. However, there are only a small number of large cohort studies demonstrating the clinical features of newly diagnosed MM. In the present study, 264 newly diagnosed MM patients from the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The median patient age was 59 years (range, 28-84) and the most common monoclonal protein (42%) was the IgG subtype. Of the 49 patients detected by FISH, 10.2, 2.0 and 12.2% demonstrated del(17p), t(14;16) and t(4;14), respectively. In total, 228 (86%) patients achieved either a complete response (CR), a very good partial response (VGPR) or a partial response (PR). The overall response rate (ORR) in non-autologous stem cell transplantation (non-ASCT) patients was 83.0%, with 48 (18.2%), 7 (2.7%) and 121 (45.8%) patients achieving CR, VGPR and PR, respectively. ASCT patients achieved at least a PR prior to ASCT, and ASCT was not able to increase the ORR (P=0.55). Non-ASCT patients who received bortezomib-based regimens demonstrated an improved ORR compared with those who received regimens that did not contain bortezomib (92.3% vs. 75.8%; P<0.05). With a median follow-up time of 20 months, the estimated median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) times were 27.6 and 61.0 months, respectively. The OS time of patients with high-risk cytogenetic abnormality, del(17p), t(14;16) and t(4;14), was shorter compared with that of other patients (30.2 months vs. not reached, P=0.029). Patients who achieved a CR/VGPR in the ASCT group demonstrated a greater OS time compared with non-ASCT patients (P=0.031). Relapsed patients who received bortezomib-based regimens did not demonstrate a longer survival time post-relapse compared with those who received non-bortezomib-based regimens (26.5 months vs. 10.5 months; P=0.271). The current study presented the clinical characteristics of MM patients who were initially treated at the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Bortezomib-based regimens and ASCT were able to improve the OS of MM patients.