@Article{, title={Frequency and Prognostic Significance of Hypercalcemia in Patients with Multiple Myeloma}, author={Kanar J. Karim, Abid M. Hassan1, Hisham A. Getta2, Najmaddin S. H. Khoshnaw, Sana D. Jalal2, Akram M. Mohammed, Kawa M. Hasan3, Dana A. Abdullah2, Ameer I.A. Badi4, Ahmed K. Yassin3, Banaz M. Safar, Basil K. Abdulla, Rawand P. Shamoon5, Truska A. Amin, Z}, journal={Medical Journal of Babylon مجلة بابل الطبية}, volume={17}, number={4}, pages={327-331}, year={2020}, abstract={Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is defined as a clonal B‑cell malignancy of the bone marrow. Hypercalcemia is associated withcancers in general and in MM specifically becomes more obvious with frequent adverse outcomes. Objectives: The objective is to determinethe frequency of hypercalcemia in MM patients and survival rate after 3 years of diagnosis with the assessment of relationship between MMprognosis and hypercalcemia. Materials and Methods: Retrospective data were reviewed from the Hematology and Cancer Centers of KurdistanRegion of Iraq (KRI, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok) from January 2012 to December 2017 on a sample of 130 patients with MM. Thediagnosis of MM and hypercalcemia was done according to the International Myeloma Working Group definition of MM and serum calciumof ≥11 mg/dl. Results: The prevalence of hypercalcemia among MM patients after calcium correction was 17.7%. Serum creatinine level issignificantly higher among MM patients with hypercalcemia. There was a significant association between high death rates and MM patientswith hypercalcemia. The mean survival of MM patients was 4.5 years and 72% of the MM patients had 3‑year survival, which decreasedto <41% for 6‑year survival. The survival of MM patients with hypercalcemia was significantly shorter than survival of patients withouthypercalcemia. Conclusions: The frequency of hypercalcemia among MM patients in KRI is within the international acceptable range and isregarded as a poor prognostic factor that is associated with higher mortality and shorter survival.

} }