An international panel of multiple myeloma experts, known as the Inter­national Myeloma Working Group (IMWG), recently released a consen­sus statement on risk stratification for patients with multiple myeloma.

Risk stratification refers to the classification of patients into different cate­gories based on likely disease outcome.

The new IMWG risk stratification, for example, has three risk categories: low-risk, standard-risk, and high-risk.

In the new system, determination of a patient's risk classification is based on three factors: a patient's disease stage according to the Inter­national Staging System (ISS); the presence of certain chromosomal abnormalities in …

German researchers recently developed a new system that calculates the risk level of multiple myeloma patients based on patient’s overall health status and other diseases a patient has in addition to myeloma.

Their system, called the Freiburg Comorbidity Index, calculates a patient’s risk level by determining the presence of known risk factors, such as poor overall health and kidney or lung disease.

The researchers found that this index can be used independently to predict progression-free survival and overall survival in myeloma patients.

More importantly, they found that when the Freiburg Comorbidity Index …