Statistics show myeloma survival rates continue to improve

New statistics released last week by Macmillan Cancer Support show that the median estimated survival time for people diagnosed with myeloma has increased six-fold over the past four decades.

These findings were published in a special report entitled Living after Diagnosis – Median Cancer Survival Time. You can find a full copy here.

The report

Cancer survival rates are usually presented as the percentage of patients that will be alive one, five or ten years after diagnosis.

However, the Macmillan report used median survival rates to calculate on average the length of time people live with different types of cancer, and to investigate if these rates have changed over time.

Median or average survival is defined as the time after which 50% of people with a cancer are still living.

In their report median survival was calculated for the years 1971-72, 1980-81 and 2000-2001 and was then predicted for those diagnosed in 2007.

Report findings

The findings of the report show that across the period in question survival in myeloma substantially increased, with median survival rising from four months to 30 months. Median survival in myeloma has therefore increased six-fold since the 1970s.

Across all cancers analysed, median survival increased from one to six years over the same time period.

Although this statistic appears to show that myeloma is lagging behind other cancers in terms of survival, the difficulties in analysing this type of data should be taken into account.

When looking at overall median cancer survival, the report analysed a wide range of different cancer types – across solid tumours and haematological cancers. These cancers have traditionally faced different treatment and prognostic factors, so it is potentially misleading to group them together.

In addition to this, the data used was also primarily based using broad categorisations of cancer, without taking into account subgroups of patients with differing prognosis.

Therefore, taking all these factors into account, the six-fold increase in survival of myeloma we think is impressive and gives hope for the future if there are continued improvements in science, diagnostics and treatments.

Precedence

The findings of the Macmillan report compliment the 10-year survival statistics published earlier this year by Cancer Research UK.

These figures found that if all cancer types are considered then myeloma has seen one of the most dramatic improvements in 10-year survival rates, from just 5% in 1970 to over 17% today.  You can find a link to this report here.

Improvements in treatment are one of the main reasons behind the dramatic improvements in both median and 10-year survival.

Treatment options for myeloma in the 1970s were very limited compared to what is available today.  For example, high-dose therapy and stem cell transplantation was introduced as a myeloma treatment in the mid-1980s. Then, the late 1990s saw the introduction of bisphosphonates and also thalidomide which arguably revolutionised treatment; closely followed in the past decade by the development of the first novel treatments for myeloma; Velcade® (bortezomib) and Revlimid® (lenalidomide).

These developments, together with an improvement in supportive care, have dramatically increased survival in myeloma to the extent that for increasing numbers of patients, myeloma may be a cancer they can live with rather than die from.

Further information

Myeloma UK is working tirelessly with the entire myeloma community to ensure the continuity of these treatment developments and that the upward trend of survival rates is maintained.

If you have any questions about the findings of this report, please contact Kate on 0131 557 3332 or email kate@myeloma.org.uk