EVALUATION OF RACE AS A PROGNOSTIC FACTOR IN MULTIPLE-MYELOMA - AN ANCILLARY OF SOUTHWEST-ONCOLOGY-GROUP STUDY 8229

Purpose: The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of race (black v white) on the survival of patients with multiple myel oma treated within the context of a large clinical trial. Patients and Methods: A cohort of patients randomized to receive one of two treatm ent regimens and monitored for at least 10 years was studied to assess the impact of race as a prognostic factor, after adjusting for other known factors such as stage of disease, Patients were recruited from t he referral network of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), a national multiinstitutional consortium that includes both academic and communi ty treatment centers, Patients had a diagnosis of multiple myeloma and had not previously been treated for this disease. They were carefully characterized as to demographic and clinical features, and were rando mized to receive one of two treatment regimens, which proved to have v irtually identical outcomes, The outcome measure was survival, measure d from the date of randomization to the date of last contact. Patients still alive at last contact date were treated as censored observation s. Results: Survival for black myeloma patients was similar to that fo r white patients, both overall and adjusted for prognostic factors suc h as stage. Conclusion: Observed differences in mortality between blac ks and whites cannot be attributed to differences in survival after di agnosis, given comparable treatment. (C) 1996 by American Society of C linical Oncology.