Urban Health Today Editors

Urban Health Today

Having a family history of plasma cell disorders (PCD) was associated with improved overall survival among patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), multiple myeloma (MM), and systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis, according to a recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41375-021-01454-4">study</a>.&ldquo;Previous studies have focused on characterizing the prevalence of PCD&rsquo;s amongst family members of PCD patients and the determinants of heritability, however the question of whether a PCD family history affects a patient&rsquo;s prognosis has not been well studied,&rdquo; study researchers wrote.Therefore, the researchers conducted a retrospective study of outcomes of 25,423 patients with MGUS, MM, or AL amyloidosis. Of these, 2.7% of patients reported having a family member with a PCD. This family history was documented in the medical record of 94% of patients with MGUS, 92% of patients with MM, and 88% of patient with AL amyloidosis.A review of outcomes showed that overall survival was consistently longer in patients with compared with without a familial PCD. The crude hazard ratio (HR) for MGUS was 0.52 (P&lt;0.001), for MM was 0.68 (P&lt;0.001), and for AL amyloidosis was 0.60 (P=0.003).According to the researchers, this association with family history remained even after adjustment for baseline patient and disease characteristics.&ldquo;While we cannot completely exclude all biases in this study, we believe that the consistency of our results suggests that the association between family history of PCD and improved survival is a robust finding,&rdquo; the researchers wrote.However, the study also demonstrated that among patients with MGUS, the risk of progression to MM, AL amyloidosis, or a lymphoproliferative disorders was higher in those with a family PCD history when accounting for death as a competing risk (HR=1.9; P&lt;0.001).&ldquo;Though our study suggests that a PCD family history may increase risk of disease progression, at present there are no data to suggest that screening for MGUS improves health outcomes,&rdquo; the researchers wrote. &ldquo;While early intervention trials in smoldering MM have shown a progression free survival benefit with anti-plasma cell therapy compared to observation, these data are not generalizable to MGUS patients given the lower risk of disease progression.&rdquo;

Payton White, BS

Unraveling the Genetic Factors in Alzheimer's Disease Risk in the African American Community

Alzheimer's & Dementia

Lou Portero

CDC Guidelines Not Followed for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, Study Finds

Female Urology

Tamara Thomas

Dr. Andrew Hertler Discusses Patient Selection for Popular Immunotherapy Drugs in Cancer Treatment

Esophageal Cancer

Latest News

Plasma Cell Disorder Family History Linked to Longer OS in MM

Multiple Myeloma

Having a family history of plasma cell disorders (PCD) was associated with improved overall survival among patients with ...

About Us

Editorial Policy

Contributors & Partners

Contact Us

eNewsletters

Work With Us

Advertising

Career Center

GU Oncology Now

Blood Cancers Today

Cancer Nursing Today

DocWire News

MashupMD

Food Allergy Roundtable Discussions

Allergy

Blood Cancers

— Multiple Myeloma

Breast Cancer

Colorectal Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Cancer

Diabetes

Gastroenterology

Heart Failure

Heart Disease Prevention

Heart Health

— Alzheimer’s Disease

Neurology

Public Health

Autoimmune Disease

Infectious Diseases

Obesity

Pediatrics

Sickle Cell Disease

Digital Health

Dermatology

Pulmonology

Video Insights

Workforce News

More

Gynecologic Cancer

Heart Disease in Women

Menopause

Reproductive Health

Women’s Neurology

Well Woman Today

Roundtables

Podcasts

Conferences

Viewpoints

Subscribe