Prognostic significance of β2-microglobulin decline index in multiple myeloma.

PURPOSE: To assess the prognostic significance of β2-microglobulin decline index (β2M DI) in multiple myeloma (MM).

METHODS: 150 MM patients diagnosed with MM were enrolled in this study. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the uni- and multivariate prognosis in training cohort (n=105). A new combined prognostic model containing β2M DI was built up based on the data in training cohort. The validation group was used to verify the model.

RESULTS: β2M DI showed significant correlation with prognosis in both uni- and multivariate analyses and had a good correlation with complete response (CR) rate and deep remission rate. The ROC and calibration curves in validation cohort (n=45) indicated a good predictive performance of the new model. Based on the median risk score of the training group, we classified patients into high- and low- risk groups. In both training and validation groups, patients in the low-risk group had longer overall survival (OS) time than that in the high-risk group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: β2M DI is a good predictive index for predicting treatment response and survival time in MM patients. The prognostic model added with β2M DI showed a better correlation with OS.