This week, we’re putting the spotlight on five important facts that people of African descent need to know about multiple myeloma. The International Myeloma Foundation seeks to help raise awareness about the incidence of the disease among the African American population, and to encourage early diagnosis and treatment. 
 

Fact #1: Myeloma is the most common blood cancer in people of African descent and is twice as common in African Americans. 

A December 2023 study co-authored by IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael and published in Blood Cancer Journal, Addressing the disparities: the approach to the African American patient with multiple myeloma, states that African Americans “have a two-fold higher incidence of multiple myeloma, and its precursor condition, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS).” 

No definitive evidence exists as to why there is a higher incidence of myeloma among people of African descent. This is why it’s important to learn the early symptoms of myeloma and to let your doctor know that you are at added risk for the disease. With early diagnosis and treatment, people of African descent have better overall survival and will be able to live well with the disease. 
 

Fact #2: African Americans are younger at diagnosis by about 5 years. 

Some evidence from a 2013 study published in Blood suggests the biology of myeloma may be different in African Americans when compared to white Americans.  Furthermore, African Americans are younger at diagnosis by about 5 years. 

 

Fact #3: By 2034, it is estimated that African Americans will make up roughly 24 percent of the newly diagnosed myeloma population.  

That means 1 of 4 myeloma patients will be of African descent. Additionally, 20 percent of all myeloma cases in the U.S. are among African Americans. A January 2023 study, Multiple Myeloma for the Primary Care Provider: A Practical Review to Promote Earlier Diagnosis Among Diverse Populations, published in The American Journal of Medicine and co-authored by IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael, delves into these numbers.  
 
 

Fact #4: There exists a general distrust of the healthcare system among African Americans due to persistent disparities in care and health outcomes.  

A February 2024 KFF report on How Present-Day Health Disparities for Black People Are Linked to Past Policies and Events brings this to light. Factors such as “higher uninsured rates, being more likely to go without care due to cost, worse reported health status, and shorter life expectancies” are some of the disparities that African Americans experience.  
 
The KFF’s 2023 Racism, Discrimination, and Health Survey was “a major effort to document the extent and implications of racism and discrimination, particularly with respect to people’s interactions with the health care system.”  
 
Key takeaways of the survey revealed “higher levels of unfair treatment when seeking healthcare” among Blacks and other ethnicities, with “Black women reporting even higher rates of unfair treatment.”  
 
“About one in five Black adults (18 percent) say they have been treated unfairly with disrespect by a healthcare provider in the past three years because of their race or ethnic background compared with 3 percent of white adults.” 
 
 

Fact #5: African Americans with myeloma face disparities in care. 

A July 2021 study published in Leukemia & Lymphoma, Health disparities experienced by Black and Hispanic Americans with multiple myeloma in the United States: A population-based study, revealed that African Americans “receive fewer transplants, more blood product transfusions, fewer palliative care consults, less inpatient chemotherapy, and utilized more intensive care.”  

Additional Recent Studies on Disparities in African Americans with Multiple Myeloma 

According to IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael, “previous studies have shown that African Americans have differences in the biology of myeloma. They are diagnosed 5 years younger on average, are most likely to have the standard-risk cytogenic feature of t(11;14), and are less likely to have the high-risk cytogenic feature of deletion 17p.” 

In 2023, a study on Disparities in multiple myeloma among African Americans conducted by a group of top myeloma researchers, including IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael “sought to further investigate the source and impact of disparities in multiple myeloma for [African] Americans and potential solutions for improvement,” according to the Journal of National Medical Association. 
 

Key findings of this study stated:  

• “Due to higher prevalence among African Americans, [multiple myeloma] ranks as the number one hematologic malignancy in this population.”  
• “From 2011 to 2034, new cases of multiple myeloma will increase by 65 percent in men and 61 percent in women. Consequently, the future distribution of new multiple myeloma cases is expected to include significant proportion of African American patients.”  

 
In 2024, a review article co-authored by Dr. Mikhael on Overall Survival in Patients With Multiple Myeloma in the US: A Systematic Literature Review of Racial Disparities was published in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia.  

The study concluded that "When data are adjusted for important confounders, Black patients exhibit better or equal survival to white patients, indicating that similarities in patient populations and equal access to treatment can bridge the disparity in patient outcomes between races."  
 

An IMF Initiative: The Medical Student Scholars for Health Equity in Myeloma Mentoring Program 

The International Myeloma Foundation is committed to ensuring health equity in multiple myeloma. One of our initiatives, in collaboration with the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute’s Cobb Scholars Program, is The Medical Student Scholars for Health Equity in Myeloma Mentoring Program—"an initiative that is focused on mentoring minority medical students to enhance representation of minority physicians committed to myeloma health equity. By supporting innovative projects aimed at reducing health disparities in myeloma, the program seeks to inspire medical students and address diversity gaps in the field.” 

A recent abstract co-authored by IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael, along with Dr. Manisha Bhutani, Semaje Testamark, and Dr. Randall C. Morgan was recently published in the Journal of the National Medical Association. Find out more by reading the full abstract.