OBJECTIVE: To analyze the survival related to therapeutic modalities and haematological indices at presentation with outcome performed on records of all multiple myeloma (MM) patients'. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria from 1993 to 2003. Thirty patients were identified with diagnosis confirmed on the basis of atypical plasmacytosis (=30% in the bone marrow), monoclonal component in the serum or urine and radiological evidence of the typical skeletal lytic lesions. RESULTS: Males (n = 20) outnumbered the females (n = 10), with a median age of 54 years. The mean duration of survival of all patients was 7 months (median 3 months; P < 0.0001) with only 13.3% of the patients surviving at two years. The mean duration of survival of 10 patients on either therapy of vincristine, adriamycin, dexamethasone (VAD) or 8 patients on melphalan, prednisolone (MP) was 3 months, significantly shorter than 21 months for the 5 patients on a combination of both forms of therapy at different times (COMB) (P = 0.0067). The Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival showed survival probability was least in those without definitive therapy (NONE) as expected. CONCLUSION: Late presentation and inadequate treatment from poor compliance with therapy in a setting of poverty and ignorance are suggested as factors contributing to the poor survival of the patients studied
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the survival related to therapeutic modalities and haematological indices at presentation with outcome performed on records of all multiple myeloma (MM) patients'. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria from 1993 to 2003. Thirty patients were identified with diagnosis confirmed on the basis of atypical plasmacytosis (=30% in the bone marrow), monoclonal component in the serum or urine and radiological evidence of the typical skeletal lytic lesions. RESULTS: Males (n = 20) outnumbered the females (n = 10), with a median age of 54 years. The mean duration of survival of all patients was 7 months (median 3 months; P < 0.0001) with only 13.3% of the patients surviving at two years. The mean duration of survival of 10 patients on either therapy of vincristine, adriamycin, dexamethasone (VAD) or 8 patients on melphalan, prednisolone (MP) was 3 months, significantly shorter than 21 months for the 5 patients on a combination of both forms of therapy at different times (COMB) (P = 0.0067). The Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival showed survival probability was least in those without definitive therapy (NONE) as expected. CONCLUSION: Late presentation and inadequate treatment from poor compliance with therapy in a setting of poverty and ignorance are suggested as factors contributing to the poor survival of the patients studied