“…used data from the Connect MM Registry to examine predictors of early mortality (defined as death ≤ 6 months from diagnosis) and found that age > 75 years, higher ECOG PS, lower EuroQol‐5D mobility score, higher ISS stage, lower platelet count, and prior hypertension were predictive of early mortality 12 . Data from other studies have also been consistent with our findings and those of the Connect MM Registry in reporting a comprehensive list of predictors of early mortality among those with a new diagnosis of MM including (1) patient demographics (e.g., older age at diagnosis 4,11,12,19,20,26–31 and male sex 7,16,20,29 ), (2) presence of baseline functional impairments (e.g., poor PS 7,12,15,19,26,30,32 and reduced mobility 12 ), (3) disease‐specific and laboratory characteristics (ISS stages II and III, 7,11,12,26,28,30,33 renal impairment, 7,12,14,28,31,32 elevated β 2 ‐microglobulin levels, 4,13,15,19 elevated LDH, 7,11,13,15,16,33 hypercalcemia, 16,26,30 hypoalbuminemia, 4,13,15,16 hemoglobin, 7 and platelets, 12,14 ), presence of medical comorbidities (low body mass index, 10,14 history of coronary artery disease, 32 hypertension, 12,27 respiratory disease, 28 liver disease, 28 hepatitis C, 28 and overall higher comorbidity scores 14 ), (4) barriers to health care access (low household income 29 and geographic region 20,29 ), and (5) therapy‐related characteristics (e.g., absence of novel therapy use) 4,7 . Although high‐risk cytogenetic abnormalities are associated with shorter overall survival among patients with MM, we found no association with early mortality rates 22,34,35 .…”