The Outcome of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Adolescent and Young Adult Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Abstract

Objectives: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a disease of the elderly and peaks at 60-to-70 years of age. The disease is rarely observed in young age groups. The incidence of MM is 2% among the patients under 40 years of age. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the results of MM patients in the adolescents and young adults (AYA) age group who were treated in our center between January 2010 and July 2018. Results: Of the 212 MM patients, 7% (15/212) were in the AYA age group. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 20.3 months, and the median overall survival (OS) was 41.5 months among patients in the AYA age group. In the group of patients who were over 40 years of age, the median PFS was 19.07 months, and the median OS was 30.1 months. At the time of diagnosis, the patients in the group that was 40 years of age or older were, more frequently International Staging System (ISS) 2 and ISS 3, while patients in the AYA group were more often ISS 1. Conclusion: As the goal is to achieve longer OS, and the incidence of comorbidities in younger patients is low, augmented treatments should be considered. Keywords: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, adolescent young adult, multiple myeloma