Why are men more likely to develop multiple myeloma than women?

Compared with female patients, male patients were more likely to have advanced (International Staging System stage III) disease at the time of diagnosis. Males were also more likely to have high myeloma load-serum monoclonal protein (an abnormal protein produced by cancerous blood cells), more organ failure (especially kidney failure), and bone damage. Men were less likely than women to have low bone mineral density, and myeloma-defining features tended to differ between the two sexes. These differences were apparent even after taking numerous factors into account-including race, age, body mass index, education, income, smoking, and alcohol use.

Analyses suggested that certain chromosomal abnormalities that lead to initiation of myeloma occurring more often in younger males may help to explain some of the differences seen in this study.

“This research suggests that sex-specific mechanisms promote multiple myeloma pathogenesis, which may account for the excess risk seen in men,” said lead author Krystle L. Ong, PhD, of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “These findings may be used to improve risk stratification, diagnosis, and tailored treatments for both men and women with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma or related early precursor conditions.”

Reference:

Krystle L. Ong, Kevin D. Arnold, Meredith C. Wessel, Gayatri Ravi, Sex differences in the clinical presentation of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, Cancer, https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.70192.