Utilization of novel systemic therapies for multiple myeloma: A retrospective study of front ‐line regimens using the SEER‐Medicare data

This study evaluated year ‐to‐year changes in treatment choices in a cohort of patients aged 66 or older in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)‐Medicare registry diagnosed with MM between 2007 and 2011. We found that while the usage of PIs among elderly MM patients increased significantly replacing I MiD‐based regimens (with or without alkylating agents but not with PI) between 2007 and 2011, this significant shift did not increase the proportion of treated patients. AbstractThe landscape of treatment for  multiple myeloma (MM) has significantly changed over the last decade due to novel agents that have shown superiority in efficacy such as proteasome inhibitors (PIs) and immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) over traditional therapies. However, the real‐world utilization of these new agents h as not been studied well. This study evaluated year‐to‐year changes in treatment choices in a cohort of patients aged 66 or older in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry linked with Medicare claims (SEER‐Medicare) data who were diagnosed with MM between 2007 and 20 11. We identified 2477 symptomatic newly diagnosed patients who were followed for 6 months or more postdiagnosis and treated with systemic therapies but not with stem cell transplantation. Symptomatic patients were identified by evidence of hypercalcemia, renal failure, anemia, or bone lesions (CRAB criteria). The minimum follow‐up was imposed to en...
Source: Cancer Medicine - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL RESEARCH Source Type: research