Thrombosis and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance or Multiple Myeloma

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma (MM) are often complicated by venous thromboembolism (VTE). Immobility, inanition, and recently introduced immunomodulator-based chemotherapy often explain the onset of VTE. To better characterize the risks for VTE and arterial thrombosis in this clinical setting, investigators from Sweden and the U.S. National Cancer Institute analyzed Swedish national data from 18,627 MM and 5326 MGUS patients (50% women), who received diagnosis from 1958 to 2006 at a median age of 71. Each case was matched with four population-based controls.

MM patients had significantly higher hazard ratios for VTE than controls did at 1 year (HR, 7.5), 5 years (HR, 4.6), and 10 years (HR, 4.…