1986 Volume 27 Issue 3 Pages 307-314
The relationship between clinical staging and survival time in 34 patients with multiple myeloma was studied. Patients were classified into 10 cases of IA, 5 cases of II A, 13 cases of III A and 6 cases of III B. Eight of 9 patients with BJP type were found in stage III. Fifty percent survival time of all cases showed 45 months and a marked difference in 50% survival time was observed between stage I+II group (90 months) and stage III group (20 months). High serum value, high concentration of myeloma protein or BJP and renal dysfunction were important factors which determine the survival time of myeloma patients. No influence of anemia or osteolytic changes, on the other hand, on the survival time was found. Fifty percent survival time in the patients with more than two of the above factors was significantly shorter than that in those with only one risk factor (45 months vs 7 months).
These results lead to the conclusions that in the randomized trial of myeloma patients the stratification is essential for the comparison of different types of chemotherapy.
