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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

An Organotypic High Throughput System for Characterization of Drug Sensitivity of Primary Multiple Myeloma Cells
Published on: July 15, 2015
Utilization Patterns of Single Fraction Radiation Therapy for Multiple Myeloma
Lucas Resende Salgado1, Sanders Chang2, Meng Ru3
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY.
Background:
Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are living longer than ever before thanks to new therapies. As a consequence, radiation therapy (RT) is increasingly important in the management of bone lesions from MM. Current American Society for Radiation Oncology guidelines recommend greater usage of 8 Gy in 1 fraction for treatment of these lesions. The objective of this study is to analyze utilization of 8 Gy in 1 fraction for treatment of MM bone lesions in the United States utilizing the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB).
Materials And Methods:
The NCDB was used to identify patients with MM treated with palliative RT for painful bony lesions in the period between 2004 and 2014. Utilization rate of RT in this patient population as well as single-fraction (SFRT) versus multiple-fraction RT (MFRT) was compared according to demographic, socioeconomic, and logistic details.
Results:
A total of 95,190 patients met our inclusion criteria. Of these, 10,261 (10.8%) patients received RT, and a total of 243 (2.4%) of these patients received SFRT over the 10-year period. There was an 11.73% annual increase (P = .0001) in SFRT utilization from 2004 to 2014. Older age, black race, longer distance from the treatment facility, lower degree of education, treatment at an academic or integrated healthcare network, worse comorbidities, and more recent diagnoses were all associated with increased usage of SFRT.
Conclusion:
SFRT for the management of MM painful bony metastases remains underutilized. Trends show that radiation oncologists do not appear to be changing their approach to treating this disease.
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