Relative survival for multiple myeloma
From 2010 to 2016, the most recent statistics available, five-year relative survival for multiple myeloma was 53.9%, meaning that approximately 54 of 100 people with multiple myeloma were living five years following their diagnosis.
To put that statistic into perspective, the five-year relative survival rate for multiple myeloma in 1998, the year the MMRF was founded, was just 34.6%. The trend for multiple myeloma survival is improving, thanks to collaborative research efforts promoted by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) and the approval of new, effective therapies to treat myeloma. More than fifteen new multiple myeloma drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past 20 years, and many more are in clinical trials.
Understanding survival statistics
Some people who have been diagnosed with a disease like multiple myeloma want to know their exact probability of survival. Others prefer not to know. It’s a very personal decision.
When looking at statistics, it’s important to understand that statistics cannot and do not tell you what will happen to you — they can tell you only what has happened to others. The relevance of the statistics depends on how similar to you, in terms of patient demographics, myeloma subtype and treatment options, those “others” happen to be.
