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. 2014 Jul;28(7):1537-42.
doi: 10.1038/leu.2014.34. Epub 2014 Jan 20.

Racial disparities in the prevalence of monoclonal gammopathies: a population-based study of 12,482 persons from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey

O Landgren  1 , B I Graubard  2 , J A Katzmann  3 , R A Kyle  4 , I Ahmadizadeh  1 , R Clark  3 , S K Kumar  4 , A Dispenzieri  4 , A J Greenberg  5 , T M Therneau  4 , L J Melton 3rd  5 , N Caporaso  2 , N Korde  1 , M Roschewski  1 , R Costello  1 , G M McQuillan  6 , S V Rajkumar  4
Affiliations

Racial disparities in the prevalence of monoclonal gammopathies: a population-based study of 12,482 persons from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey

O Landgren et al. Leukemia. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) incidence is markedly higher in blacks compared with whites, which may be related to a higher prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Our objective was to define the prevalence and risk factors of MGUS in a large cohort representative of the US population. Stored serum samples from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) III or NHANES 1999-2004 were available for 12,482 individuals of age ⩾50 years (2331 'blacks', 2475 Hispanics, 7051 'whites' and 625 'others') on which agarose-gel electrophoresis, serum protein immunofixation, serum-free light-chain assay and M-protein typing were performed. MGUS was identified in 365 participants (2.4%). Adjusted prevalence of MGUS was significantly higher (P<0.001) in blacks (3.7%) compared with whites (2.3%) (P=0.001) or Hispanics (1.8%), as were characteristics that posed a greater risk of progression to MM. The adjusted prevalence of MGUS was 3.1% and 2.1% for the North/Midwest versus South/West regions of the United States, respectively (P=0.052). MGUS is significantly more common in blacks, and more often has features associated with higher risk of progression to MM. A strong geographic disparity in the prevalence of MGUS between the North/Midwest versus the South/West regions of the United States was found, which has etiologic implications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest disclosure: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS) in Men and Women by Age (1A) and by race and ethnicity (1B)
Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS) in Men and Women by Age (1A) and by race and ethnicity (1B)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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