COVID-19 mortality higher among multiple myeloma patients

Multiple myeloma (MM) patients hospitalized for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) suffer from an excess risk of death, a recent study has found.

In the present Spanish retrospective case series, a total of 167 MM patients with COVID-19 (median age, 71 years; 57 percent male) were included. Outcomes were assessed using a modified version of the International Myeloma Society questionnaire and were compared against 167 randomly selected age- and sex-matched controls, who were also positive for COVID-19 but had no cancer.

Fifty-six MM patients died during hospital admission, corresponding to a mortality rate of 34 percent. This was 50-percent greater compared to the 23-percent hospital death rate in noncancer controls. Conversely, the rate of hospital discharge was 10-percent greater in controls than in MM patients (76 percent vs 66 percent).

Mortality was almost doubled in males than in females (41 percent vs 24 percent) and increased with age. Rates were 38–39 percent in those aged ≥60 years, while the corresponding value was nearly halved in younger comparators. MM features—such as an active disease at the time of COVID-19 admission and main immunoglobulin component—also affected mortality rates.

Logistic regression analysis confirmed that the male sex (odds ratio [OR[, 3.8, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.7–8.4; p=0.001) and age >65 years (OR, 3.0, 95 percent CI, 1.4–8.4; p=0.006) were significant risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in MM patients.

In addition, having active or progressive disease (OR, 4.6, 95 percent CI, 1.9–11.3; p<0.001) and comorbid renal disease (OR, 2.7, 95 percent CI, 1.2–6.0; p=0.017) at admission likewise worsened survival. None of the MM features and treatment variables, such as monoclonal component and duration of diagnosis, significantly impacted COVID-19 mortality.