Serious infections were common in this real-world multiple myeloma cohort, and dialysis requirement at diagnosis and failure to achieve treatment response were independently associated with serious infection, whereas baseline NLR was not.
Serious infections requiring hospitalization occurred in over a third of patients with multiple myeloma in this retrospective multicenter cohort.
Dialysis requirement at diagnosis was more frequent among patients with serious infection and was independently associated with serious infection in multivariable analysis.
Failure to achieve treatment response was strongly and independently associated with serious infection.
Baseline neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) did not differ between patients with and without serious infection and was not independently associated with serious infection.
Hypogammaglobulinemia was more frequent among patients with serious infection in univariate analysis.
IVIG administration was more frequent among patients with serious infection, but the authors caution that this association may reflect confounding by indication and reverse causality.
The authors conclude that clinical characteristics reflecting renal dysfunction and treatment response may help identify patients with MM at increased risk of serious infection.
This study looked back at the records of 104 people with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, treated at several centers. It asked which factors were linked to serious infections, meaning infections severe enough to need hospital admission. About 37.5% of patients (39 people) had at least one such infection, showing how common this complication is. Two factors stood out. Patients who needed dialysis when first diagnosed, and patients whose cancer did not respond to treatment, were much more likely to have a serious infection, even after accounting for age, disease stage, and a blood marker called the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). That blood marker, measured at diagnosis, did not predict serious infections. Low antibody levels and use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) were more common in patients with serious infections, but the authors warn the IVIG link may simply reflect that sicker or infection-prone patients are more likely to receive it. This research suggests that kidney problems and poor response to treatment could help flag patients who may need closer attention to infection prevention. The study is small and retrospective, and the estimates are imprecise, so the findings show associations and cannot prove cause and effect. Larger studies would be needed to confirm them.
Odabaşı Giden A, Şahin O, Ozatli D. (2026). Clinical and Laboratory Factors Associated with Serious Infections in Multiple Myeloma: A Real-World Study.. Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.). https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol33100615