Multiple myeloma is estimated to account for about 32,270 new cancer cases and 12,830 cancer deaths in the United States, with roughly 1.8% of new diagnoses and 1.9% of cancer deaths. The median age at diagnosis is 69 years, and survival ranges from 66.7% at 2 years to 36.0% at 10 years. The data also points to age-linked and risk-marker patterns that shape how outcomes vary across patients.
Key Takeaways
- 1.1 million new cancer cases were estimated for 2020 in the United States
- 606,520 estimated cancer deaths were reported in the United States in 2020
- Approximately 1.8% of all new cancer cases in 2020 in the United States were estimated to be multiple myeloma
- In a systematic review, pathologic fractures occurred in about 20% of patients with multiple myeloma at diagnosis
- In multiple myeloma at diagnosis, anemia is present in about 60% of patients (review estimate)
- In multiple myeloma at diagnosis, bone lesions occur in about 80–90% of patients (review estimate)
- Daratumumab was approved for multiple myeloma and is administered as a weekly schedule early in therapy; initial phase is weekly doses
- In the POLLUX trial, daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone
- In the CASTOR trial, daratumumab plus bortezomib and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival versus bortezomib and dexamethasone alone
In 2020, 32,270 Americans were estimated to develop multiple myeloma and 12,830 were expected to die.
Related reading
01 · Category
Epidemiology30 stats
01
1.1 million new cancer cases were estimated for 2020 in the United States
02
606,520 estimated cancer deaths were reported in the United States in 2020
03
Approximately 1.8% of all new cancer cases in 2020 in the United States were estimated to be multiple myeloma
04
Approximately 1.9% of all cancer deaths in 2020 in the United States were estimated to be due to multiple myeloma
05
32,270 new cases of multiple myeloma were estimated for 2020 in the United States
06
12,830 multiple myeloma deaths were estimated for 2020 in the United States
07
The median age at diagnosis of multiple myeloma is 69 years
08
2-year survival for multiple myeloma in the United States is 66.7%
09
5-year survival for multiple myeloma in the United States is 54.5%
10
10-year survival for multiple myeloma in the United States is 36.0%
11
The lifetime risk of developing multiple myeloma was 1 in 132 for men in the United States
12
The lifetime risk of developing multiple myeloma was 1 in 140 for women in the United States
13
The percentage of multiple myeloma cases diagnosed at ages 70+ is 59.9% (SEER Stage: not applicable; age at diagnosis distribution)
14
The incidence rate of multiple myeloma (all races) in the United States is about 6.0 per 100,000 (SEER)
15
Multiple myeloma incidence rates are higher in Black patients than White patients (SEER)
16
Annual increase in multiple myeloma incidence rates was 0.7% per year from 2000 to 2015 (SEER summary)
17
Age-adjusted incidence of multiple myeloma increased from 5.1 per 100,000 in 1975 to 8.5 per 100,000 in 2016 (SEER trend)
18
Age-adjusted mortality for multiple myeloma increased from 5.1 per 100,000 in 1975 to 5.8 per 100,000 in 2016 (SEER trend)
19
Approximately 10% of bone marrow cancers are multiple myeloma (as a proportion within hematologic malignancies in the general context of bone marrow/hematologic cancers)
20
Multiple myeloma accounts for about 1% of all cancers worldwide
21
In 2020, there were an estimated 176,404 new cases of multiple myeloma worldwide
22
In 2020, there were an estimated 117,077 deaths due to multiple myeloma worldwide
23
Multiple myeloma represented 0.9% of all cancers worldwide in 2020
24
Multiple myeloma age-standardized incidence rate was 2.0 per 100,000 (world) in 2020
25
Multiple myeloma age-standardized mortality rate was 1.2 per 100,000 (world) in 2020
26
Multiple myeloma median age at diagnosis was 66 years worldwide (IARC fact sheet context)
27
Plasma cell neoplasms represent 13% of hematologic malignancies
28
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) progresses to multiple myeloma or related disorders at about 1% per year
29
Smoldering multiple myeloma progresses to symptomatic disease at a rate of about 10% per year in the first 5 years (higher-risk group)
30
Smoldering multiple myeloma progresses to symptomatic disease at an average rate of about 3–4% per year
Interpretation
Epidemiology Interpretation
Although multiple myeloma is only about 1.8% of new cancer cases in the United States and contributes about 1.9% of cancer deaths, its incidence has risen from 5.1 per 100,000 in 1975 to 8.5 per 100,000 in 2016 and most patients are diagnosed later in life, with a median age of 69 years.
02 · Category
Clinical Characteristics30 stats
01
In a systematic review, pathologic fractures occurred in about 20% of patients with multiple myeloma at diagnosis
02
In multiple myeloma at diagnosis, anemia is present in about 60% of patients (review estimate)
03
In multiple myeloma at diagnosis, bone lesions occur in about 80–90% of patients (review estimate)
04
In multiple myeloma, hypercalcemia occurs in about 10–15% of patients at diagnosis (review estimate)
05
In multiple myeloma, renal impairment occurs in about 25–30% of patients at diagnosis (review estimate)
06
The ISS (International Staging System) uses serum beta-2 microglobulin and albumin levels to classify multiple myeloma into 3 stages (I, II, III)
07
Median serum beta-2 microglobulin cutoffs for ISS are 3.5 mg/L and albumin cutoffs of 3.5 g/dL in the original ISS definition
08
In the Revised ISS (R-ISS), stage grouping uses high-risk cytogenetics including del(17p), t(4;14), and t(14;16)
09
In the Revised ISS (R-ISS), risk is upgraded when high-risk cytogenetics are present (del17p, t(4;14), t(14;16))
10
In a large study, del(17p) was present in about 10% of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma cases
11
In a large study, t(4;14) was present in about 15% of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma cases
12
In a large study, t(14;16) was present in about 5% of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma cases
13
About 70% of multiple myeloma patients have M-protein detectable in serum electrophoresis at diagnosis (review)
14
About 20–25% of multiple myeloma patients are diagnosed with light-chain only disease (review)
15
AL amyloidosis is estimated to occur in about 5–15% of patients with plasma cell disorders (clinical review estimate)
16
Primary plasma cell leukemia accounts for about 1–2% of plasma cell neoplasms (clinical epidemiology)
17
Monoclonal gammopathy progresses to multiple myeloma at about 1% per year (MGUS progression rate)
18
Smoldering multiple myeloma progresses to symptomatic disease at an average rate of ~10% in the first 5 years for certain high-risk cohorts (study estimate)
19
In a study, 20% of patients with multiple myeloma were classified as high-risk by R-ISS at diagnosis (registry/cross-sectional study)
20
Approximately 50% of patients with multiple myeloma have bone marrow involvement ≥60% at diagnosis (clinical description; review context)
21
The International Myeloma Working Group defines myeloma-defining events including bone marrow plasma cells ≥60%
22
The International Myeloma Working Group defines myeloma-defining events including involved/uninvolved serum free light-chain ratio ≥100 (with involved light chain ≥100 mg/L)
23
The International Myeloma Working Group defines myeloma-defining events including >1 focal lesion on MRI (≥5 mm)
24
The IMWG defines renal insufficiency as creatinine clearance <40 mL/min or serum creatinine >2 mg/dL
25
The IMWG defines anemia as hemoglobin <10 g/dL or >2 g/dL below the lower limit of normal
26
The IMWG defines hypercalcemia as serum calcium >11.5 mg/dL
27
The IMWG defines bone lesions as one or more osteolytic lesions on CT or PET/CT or MRI with at least one lesion
28
About 30–40% of patients with multiple myeloma have documented extramedullary involvement (review estimate)
29
Cytogenetic abnormalities are found in about 80% of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma cases (review estimate)
30
Deletion 13q is among common cytogenetic abnormalities and occurs in about 50% of cases (review estimate)
Interpretation
Clinical Characteristics Interpretation
Across the data, symptomatic multiple myeloma at diagnosis is highly likely to involve multiple serious features at once, with about 60% presenting with anemia, 80 to 90% with bone lesions, and roughly 25 to 30% already having renal impairment.
More related reading
03 · Category
Treatment & Outcomes30 stats
01
Daratumumab was approved for multiple myeloma and is administered as a weekly schedule early in therapy; initial phase is weekly doses
02
In the POLLUX trial, daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone
03
In the CASTOR trial, daratumumab plus bortezomib and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival versus bortezomib and dexamethasone alone
04
In the ICARIA-MM study, isatuximab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival vs pomalidomide and dexamethasone
05
In the MAIA trial, daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival in newly diagnosed, transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma
06
In the IMROZ study, carfilzomib plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone improved response compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (in relapsed/refractory disease)
07
In the ENDEAVOR trial, carfilzomib plus dexamethasone improved overall survival compared with bortezomib plus dexamethasone
08
In the ASCENT trial, elotuzumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone improved overall response rate (clinical trial)
09
In the ELOQUENT-2 trial, elotuzumab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival (clinical trial)
10
In the TOURMALINE-MM2 trial, ixazomib plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival compared with placebo plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone
11
In the TOURMALINE-MM1 trial, ixazomib improved progression-free survival compared with placebo in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
12
In the IFM 2009 trial, lenalidomide maintenance improved progression-free survival after transplant versus placebo (trial result)
13
Lenalidomide maintenance after autologous stem cell transplant improved overall survival by about 4 years in long-term follow-up (trial context)
14
Autologous stem cell transplant can produce median progression-free survival of about 30–45 months depending on induction and maintenance (review estimate)
15
Allogeneic stem cell transplant has higher treatment-related mortality; reduced-intensity conditioning lowered toxicity to a median non-relapse mortality rate around 20–30% in reviews (review estimate)
16
Car T-cell therapy idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) showed a high overall response rate in the KarMMa trial; ORR reported was 73%
17
In the KarMMa trial, median duration of response (DOR) for idecabtagene vicleucel was 21.8 months
18
Ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) in the CARTITUDE-1 trial achieved an overall response rate of 97%
19
In CARTITUDE-1, median progression-free survival for cilta-cel was 28.8 months
20
Bispecific antibody teclistamab achieved an overall response rate of about 63% in the MajesTEC-1 trial (response benchmark)
21
In MajesTEC-1, median progression-free survival with teclistamab was 5.5 months (median PFS)
22
Bispecific antibody elranatamab achieved an overall response rate of 61% in the MagnetisMM-3 trial (response benchmark)
23
Median progression-free survival with elranatamab in MagnetisMM-3 was 2.8 months (median PFS)
24
In relapsed multiple myeloma, median overall survival after CAR T-cell therapy ranges around 2 years or longer in modern cohorts (review estimate)
25
In the STAMINA study (reviewed in a paper), 5-year overall survival for multiple myeloma improved in the transplant era up to ~50% for patients achieving deep responses
26
In SEER, the 5-year relative survival for multiple myeloma (all stages) is 54.5%
27
In SEER, the 10-year relative survival for multiple myeloma (all stages) is 36.0%
28
In SEER, the 1-year relative survival for multiple myeloma is 74.6%
29
In SEER, the 3-year relative survival for multiple myeloma is 64.5%
30
Treatment response definitions: complete response (CR) includes normalization of serum and urine M-protein and negative immunofixation for at least 2 consecutive assessments (IMWG criteria)
Interpretation
Treatment & Outcomes Interpretation
Across modern multiple myeloma therapies, the shift toward deeper and newer responses is reflected in survival gains such as about 50% 5 year overall survival in the transplant era and CAR T cell trials showing 97% and 73% overall response rates, alongside median progression free survival reaching about 28.8 months with cilta cel versus 5.5 months with teclistamab, illustrating how treatment intensity and response depth can dramatically change outcomes.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Emilia Santos. (2026, February 13). Bone Marrow Cancer Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/bone-marrow-cancer-statistics
MLA
Emilia Santos. "Bone Marrow Cancer Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/bone-marrow-cancer-statistics.
Chicago
Emilia Santos. 2026. "Bone Marrow Cancer Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/bone-marrow-cancer-statistics.
Sources & references
41 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+32 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)