Equal Treatment and Outcomes for Everyone with Multiple Myeloma: Are We There Yet?

Abstract

Multiple myeloma treatment has changed tremendously over recent years leading to overall improvement in patient outcomes. With therapeutic advancements, patient care has become increasingly complex and variability is seen in healthcare delivery as well as outcomes when various patient subgroups are analyzed based on sociodemographic factors. It is imperative to understand this variability so that while overall the outcomes get better, specific focus is placed on subgroups that may remain disadvantaged and may not be able to fully access the advancements in therapeutics. Research in multiple myeloma has specifically looked at several such patient subgroups based on socioeconomic status, age, race/ethnicity, insurance carrier, and geographic location that may affect healthcare utilization and patient outcomes. Exploring and understanding these would certainly help address disparities and lead to further equity in healthcare access and, hopefully, patient outcomes.

Trends in multiple myeloma presentation, management, cost of care, and outcomes in the Medicare population: A comprehensive look at racial disparities

“…This is mainly because of a rapidly improving therapeutic landscape with novel drugs, better understanding of disease biology, and improvement in supportive care . Despite these encouraging trends, disparities exist in MM outcomes by patient race/ethnicity . Several studies have described these disparities and investigated at their potential causes, and most have reported differences in access to therapeutics options, including novel drugs and stem cell transplantation (SCT) .…”

“…3,[5][6][7][8][9] Despite these encouraging trends, disparities exist in MM outcomes by patient race/ethnicity. 2,10 Several studies have described these disparities and investigated at their potential causes, and most have reported differences in access to therapeutics options, including novel drugs and stem cell transplantation (SCT). 2,[11][12][13][14] With changing US population demographics and an increasing proportion of racial/ethnic minorities, comprehensive studies describing differences in various aspects of health care among patients according to racial/ ethnic groups are warranted.…”

Epidemiology of Multiple Myeloma

“…A widening gap among socioeconomic status groups have been shown in the last two decades [67]. In this increasingly complex therapeutic scenario, it is imperative to focus on subgroups that may remain disadvantaged [68].…”

Education Level as a Predictor of Survival in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

“…In recent years, with the continuous advent of new drugs and new treatments, the prognosis of patients with MM has been greatly improved. However, not all MM patients bene t equally from these improvements [5]. To explore the causes of this difference, a few studies from the Cancer Registry and the SEER database have shown the impact of racial and socioeconomic status (SES) disparities on the prognosis of patients with multiple myeloma [6][7][8][9][10].…”