In a retrospective study of over 350 multiple myeloma patients who had a com­plete response to their initial line of ther­apy, researchers in the United States have found that a longer duration of response is asso­ci­ated with sub­stan­tially longer over­all survival.

In addi­tion, the study authors found that patients who started second-line treat­ment due to a biochemical relapse had longer over­all survival than those who started second-line treat­ment due to a symp­tomatic relapse.

A symp­tomatic relapse is one in which the patient ex­peri­ences new bone lesions, anemia, or other defining symp­toms of …