The following is a summary of “A real-world study on the impact of infection load on mortality in multiple myeloma patients in Finland,” published in the December 2024 issue of Hematology by Anttalainen et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate the effect of infection load on mortality in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) using nationwide healthcare registries in Finland.
They used several nationwide healthcare registries from Finland to investigate the effect of infection load on mortality in patients with MM from 1997 to 2021. Data from patients with MM were compared with age-, sex-, and region-matched controls.
The results showed that infections were most frequent in the first year after MM diagnosis. Patients who received autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) had more infections in the first 2 years post-diagnosis than those without ASCT. Patients with MM had more infections in the year before diagnosis compared to matched controls, with patients under 70 showing more infections 3 years prior. Streptococcal septicaemia and pneumonia due to Streptococcus pneumoniae increased before diagnosis. A single pre-diagnosis infection was linked to shorter overall survival (OS). Cox models indicated that infections before and after diagnosis raised mortality risk in patients with MM.
The results showed that infections, particularly before diagnosis, significantly impacted mortality in patients with MM, highlighting the need for effective infection management to improve outcomes.
Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00277-024-06101-3
