The Importance of Frailty Assessment in Multiple Myeloma: A Position Statement From The Myeloma Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) To Myeloma Australia.

Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a disease of older people, yet factors relating to comorbidity and frailty may threaten treatment tolerability for many of this heterogeneous group. There has been increasing interest in defining specific and clinically relevant frailty assessment tools within the MM population, with the goal of using these frailty scores not just as a prognostic instrument, but also as a predictive tool to allow for a frailty-adapted treatment approach. This paper reviews the various frailty assessment frameworks used in the evaluation of MM patients, including the International Myeloma Working Group Frailty Index (IMWG-FI), the Mayo Frailty Index and the simplified frailty scale. While the IMWG-FI remains the most widely accepted tool, the simplified frailty scale is the most user-friendly in busy day-to-day clinics based on its ease of use. This paper summarises the recommendations from the Myeloma Scientific Advisory group (MSAG) of Myeloma Australia, on the use of frailty assessment tools in clinical practice and propose a frailty-stratified treatment algorithm to aid clinicians in tailoring therapy for this highly heterogeneous patient population. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.