Clinical Report: Overall Survival in Black Patients With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

Overview

This retrospective cohort study assessed overall survival among Black and White adults with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma treated at Cleveland Clinic from 2017 through 2023. The supplied article text describes the study design and planned analyses but does not provide cohort size, survival estimates, hazard ratios, or results; therefore, comparative survival outcomes cannot be reported from the available material.

Background

Multiple myeloma occurs more frequently among Black individuals, who have historically experienced poorer survival than White patients. The source attributes observed disparities in part to differences in timely diagnosis and access to effective treatment, and notes that survival can be equivalent or superior for Black patients when barriers to treatment access are accounted for. Earlier Veterans Affairs research associated equal access to myeloma therapy with better survival among Black patients, but whether this applied in civilian settings during the triplet and quadruplet therapy era was uncertain. The current study examined this question in a large integrated health system where a prior cohort analysis found no race-based disparity in triplet or quadruplet regimen use during the first year after diagnosis.

Data Highlights

Key Findings

• The study evaluated overall survival by race among adults with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma treated in a civilian integrated health system during 2017–2023.
• The cohort excluded patients whose treatment was completed outside Cleveland Clinic, patients presenting with recurrent or persistent disease after diagnosis elsewhere, and patients missing specified insurance, deprivation-index, or baseline eGFR information.
• Race was classified in the electronic health record as White, Black, or other; the primary comparison described in the analysis was between Black and White patients.
• Overlap weighting was used to estimate adjusted 5-year overall survival, balancing clinical, sociodemographic, and diagnosis-year covariates.
• The Cox model included triplet or quadruplet regimen receipt within 1 year of diagnosis and stem cell transplant receipt during follow-up, alongside clinical and sociodemographic covariates.
• The supplied text reports that a previous analysis of this cohort found no race-based disparity in triplet or quadruplet regimen use during the first year after diagnosis, but it does not provide the current study’s survival results.

Clinical Implications

The supplied material describes an approach to comparing survival after adjustment for treatment exposure and multiple clinical and sociodemographic factors, but it does not report the resulting estimates. No conclusion about racial differences in survival in this cohort can be drawn from the provided results-free text.

Conclusion

The study was designed to assess whether comparable use of triplet and quadruplet regimens was associated with similar overall survival among Black and White patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The supplied article excerpt does not include outcome findings, so the survival comparison remains undetermined here.

Related Resources & Content

1. ASCO Publications, 2026 — Overall survival of Black patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in the era of triplet and quadruplet therapies
2. Blood Cancer Journal, 2026 — Overall survival of Black patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in the era of triplet and quadruplet therapies
3. The ASCO Post, 2026 — Evolving Treatment Landscape Spurs Living Guideline Update on Multiple Myeloma
4. Sonneveld et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2024 — Daratumumab, Bortezomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone for Multiple Myeloma
5. ASCO Publications — Overall survival of Black patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in the era of triplet and quadruplet therapies.
6. ASCO Publications — Overall survival of Black patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in the era of triplet and quadruplet therapies.
7. ASCO Publications — Triplet versus doublet therapy in multiple myeloma patients over 75 years.
8. Evolving Treatment Landscape Spurs Living Guideline Update on Multiple Myeloma
9. Daratumumab, Bortezomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone for Multiple Myeloma
10. Daratumumab, Bortezomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone for Multiple Myeloma | New England Journal of Medicine
11. Overall survival of Black patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in the era of triplet and quadruplet therapies | Blood Cancer Journal