Being Overweight At Diagnosis Associated With Better Prognosis In Myeloma – In a recent study using data for U.S. veterans, researchers from Wash­ing­ton Uni­versity in St. Louis found that the extent to which a multiple mye­loma patient is overweight at diagnosis may affect their prognosis. Among the patients stud­ied, those who were more overweight at the time of diagnosis had better prog­noses.  The researchers used data on each patient's body mass index (BMI) and found that overweight patients (BMI of 25 kg/m² to 29.9 kg/m²) and obese patients (BMI of 30 kg/m² or above) had the lowest risk of death com­pared to healthy-weight patients (BMI of 18.5 kg/m² to 24.9 kg/m²) and un­der­weight patients (BMI below 18.5 kg/m²).  Underweight patients had the highest risk of death. BMI is a mea­sure of how overweight, or underweight, a person is.  It is calculated based on a person’s height and weight. The researchers also found that weight loss of 10 percent or more in the year leading up to diag­nosis was associated with an increased risk of death. For more information, please see the study in the journal The Oncologist ^[1] (abstract).

Exposure To Di­chloro­meth­ane May Increase The Risk Of Developing Myeloma – Results of a recent analysis conducted in China show that occupational exposure to the compound di­chloro­meth­ane, or methylene chloride, increases the risk of developing multiple myeloma. In particular, people exposed to di­chloro­meth­ane were twice as likely to develop myeloma as those who were not exposed to di­chloro­meth­ane. However, the results of the analysis also showed that di­chloro­meth­ane did not increase the risk for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, and certain solid tumors, such as breast, lung, and brain cancers. di­chloro­meth­ane is frequently used as a paint stripper and a degreaser; it has also been used in the food industry. For more information, please refer to the study in Cancer Causes & Control ^[2] (abstract).

Soft-Tissue Extramedullary Disease Is Associated With Particularly Poor Prognosis – Czech researchers recently found that extramedullary disease that develops in the soft tissue of a myeloma patient is associ­ated with poorer prognosis than extramedullary disease that develops adjacent to a bone. However, both negatively impact overall survival. Extramedullary disease occurs when malignant plasma cells form tumors outside the bone, in organs, soft tissue, or adjacent to bones but outside the bone marrow. Such tumors are more common in relapsed/refractory myeloma patients than in newly diagnosed patients. The Czech researchers analyzed data for 226 relapsed/refractory myeloma patients, 24 percent of whom developed extramedullary disease at relapse.  They found that the median time from diagnosis to the development of extramedullary disease was similar, regardless of the type of extramedullary disease (21 months for soft tissue disease and 23 months for disease adjacent to the bone).  However, overall survival for patients with extramedullary disease in the soft tissue was 30 months from initial myeloma diagnosis, compared to 45 months for patients with extramedullary disease adjacent to a bone. Overall survival from time of diagnosis for patients without extramedullary disease was 109 months (more than nine years). The researchers point out that extramedullary disease remains one of the major challenges in the care of multiple myeloma patients. For more information, please see the study in Haematologica ^[3] (pdf).