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Observational study of multiple myeloma in Latin America

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Abstract

Relatively little is known about the outcomes of multiple myeloma in Latin America, a world region where incorporation of novel agents is generally slow. In the current retrospective-prospective study, we aimed to describe the patterns of care and treatment results in five Latin American countries. Between April 2007 and October 2009, patients who had been diagnosed from January 2005 to December 2007 were registered at 23 institutions from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru. We divided patients into two cohorts, according to transplantation eligibility, and analyzed them with regard to first-line treatment and overall survival (OS). We analyzed a total of 852 patients, 46.9 % of whom were female. The median follow-up was 62 months. Among transplantation-ineligible patients (N = 461), the mean age was 67.4 years, approximately one third of patients received a thalidomide-based treatment in the first line, and the median OS was 43.0 months. Transplantation-eligible patients (N = 391) had a mean age of 54.7 years and a median OS of 73.6 months. Autologous transplantation was performed in 58.6 % of the patients for whom this procedure was initially planned and in only 26.9 % of the overall patients. Our long-term results reflect the contemporary literature for patients with multiple myeloma treated with autologous transplantation and thalidomide-based regimens in clinical trials and observational studies. However, further efforts are needed to approve and incorporate novel agents in Latin American countries, as well as to increase access to transplantation, in order to achieve the expected improvements in patient outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Santa Casa Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil

    Vania T. M. Hungria

  2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Angelo Maiolino

  3. Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Gracia Martinez

  4. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Gislaine Oliveira Duarte

  5. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Rosane Bittencourt

  6. Centro de Pesquisas Oncológicas de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Lygia Peters

  7. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Gisele Colleoni

  8. Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

    Luciana C. O. Oliveira

  9. Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil

    Edvan Crusoé

  10. HEMOPE, Recife, Brazil

    Érika O. D. M. Coelho

  11. Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

    Ricardo Pasquini

  12. Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

    Sílvia M. M. Magalhães

  13. Hospital Brigadeiro, São Paulo, Brazil

    Renata Nunes

  14. Hospital de Base de Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil

    Jorge V. Pinto Neto

  15. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Rosa Malena O. Faria

  16. Fundação Dr Amaral de Carvalho, Jaú, Brazil

    Mair Souza

  17. Hospital Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil

    Nelson Hamerschlak

  18. Hospital Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Dorotea Flantl

  19. Hospital Edgardo Rebagliati, Lima, Peru

    J. R. Navarro

  20. Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Guillermo Conte

  21. Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico

    David Gomez-Almaguer

  22. Centro de Hematologia y Medicina Interna de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

    Guillermo Ruiz-Argüelles

  23. Inc. Cedar-Sinai Outpatient Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Brian G. M. Durie

Authors
  1. Vania T. M. Hungria
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  2. Angelo Maiolino
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  3. Gracia Martinez
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  4. Gislaine Oliveira Duarte
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  6. Lygia Peters
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  7. Gisele Colleoni
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  8. Luciana C. O. Oliveira
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  9. Edvan Crusoé
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  12. Sílvia M. M. Magalhães
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  13. Renata Nunes
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  16. Mair Souza
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  17. Nelson Hamerschlak
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  18. Dorotea Flantl
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  19. J. R. Navarro
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  20. Guillermo Conte
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  22. Guillermo Ruiz-Argüelles
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  23. Brian G. M. Durie
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On behalf of the International Myeloma Working Group Latin America

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vania T. M. Hungria.

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Hungria, V.T.M., Maiolino, A., Martinez, G. et al. Observational study of multiple myeloma in Latin America. Ann Hematol 96, 65–72 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-016-2866-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-016-2866-9

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