The impact on early diagnosis and survival outcome of M-protein screening-driven diagnostic approach to multiple myeloma in China: a cohort study

Abstract

Most multiple myeloma (MM) patients in China were diagnosed only until severe complications occurred. The incidence of MM in China is 7.3 times lower than that of United States, which could have been underestimated due to high miss diagnosis and diagnostic delay rate in China. In Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, a large national reference center in Shanghai delivering medical service for over 3,400,000 patients annually, serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) is routinely incorporated into liver biochemical and function tests, and therefore providing us unique opportunities to observe the prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy in a hospital population, to screen and identify patients with myeloma or other monoclonal immunoglobulins (M-protein) related disorders at earlier stage, and to evaluate the impact of M-protein screening on baseline characteristics and outcome of patients with MM.