A new study reveals that racial disparities continue to impact treatment for multiple myeloma patients, with African Americans less likely to receive timely care than white patients.
Researchers analyzed Medicare data for over 14,000 patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma between 2007 and 2017. They found that 59.5% of non-Hispanic African American patients received treatment within one year of diagnosis, compared to 64.8% of non-Hispanic white patients.
The racial gap in treatment initiation widened over time, increasing from 2.9% in 2007 to 6.9% between 2014-2017. African American patients also experienced significantly longer delays before starting treatment.
These disparities translated to worse outcomes, with African American patients having a median survival of 1.97 years versus 2.37 years for white patients.
“The gap may be related to the affordability of costly medications for MM treatment, such as lenalidomide,” said lead investigator Rong Wang and colleagues. They noted the average price of lenalidomide increased from $215 per pill in 2005 to $719 in 2019.
While new therapies have improved overall survival rates for multiple myeloma in recent decades, the study shows these gains are not equally distributed. The authors call for further research into treatment barriers affecting minority patients with multiple myeloma.
The findings were published in the journal Cancer Medicine.
See “Racial Disparities Persist in Multiple Myeloma Treatment” (January 26, 2024)
https://www.ajmc.com/view/racial-disparities-persist-in-mm-treatment
“Racial Disparities Persist in Multiple Myeloma Treatment” (January 26, 2024)
