Between 2020 and 2021, increased mortality was observed among patients with multiple myeloma (MM), with an estimated 2500 excess deaths related to COVID-19.
Nanditha Karra, MD, of the University of Maryland Capital Region Health, and colleagues presented the findings at the 2026 SOHO Annual Meeting.
The researchers conducted a retrospective population-based mortality analysis using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER Multiple Cause of Death data. Between 2018 and 2021, 65,275 deaths involving MM and related immunoproliferative neoplasms were reported.
Annual deaths increased by 7.5% from 2019 to 2021, from 15,842 in 2019 to 17,024 in 2021.
The prepandemic predicted baseline was 15,692 deaths per year. Comparatively, observed-to-expected mortality ratios were 1.075 in 2020 and 1.085 in 2021, associated with 1175 excess deaths in 2020 and 1332 in 2021.
COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause in 4.7% of deaths in 2020 and 5.8% in 2021, corresponding to approximately 793 and 987 deaths. COVID-19 underlying-cause deaths accounted for approximately 71% of estimated excess deaths from 2020 to 2021.
“These findings support continued infection-prevention strategies, vaccination optimization, early antiviral access, and survivorship care for patients with plasma cell malignancies,” the authors concluded.
Reference
Karra N, Mora T, Sangaraju SL. Residual excess mortality during the COVID-19 era in multiple myeloma and related plasma cell neoplasms: a CDC WONDER counterfactual predictive analysis. Abstract MM-968. Presented at the 2026 Society of Hematologic Oncology Annual Meeting; September 9-12, 2026; Houston.
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