The 5-year survival rate for multiple myeloma increased eightfold over an approximately 60-year span starting in the early 1950s, said Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, and his associates.
Patients with multiple myeloma had a 5-year relative survival rate of 6% in 1950-1954, compared with 49.8% in 2008-2013, according to data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (JAMA 2017;317[4]:388-406).
In 2014, there were about 13,000 deaths resulting from multiple myeloma, with 219,000 years of life lost, which ranked 17th among the 29 selected cancers, noted Dr. Mokdad and his associates at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Seattle.