What is multiple myeloma?

Myeloma occurs when plasma cells (white blood cells) in the bone marrow grow and divide in an abnormal, uncontrolled way, reducing the bodies ability to produce normal blood cells. Multiple myeloma is when patients have multiple bone lesions at the time of diagnosis, which occurs in approximately 90% of cases.

You can access further information about multiple myeloma, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is multiple myeloma?

In 2024, 732 Victorians were diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Of these, there were 433 males and 299 females, representing 59% and 41% of the total Victorian multiple myeloma diagnoses, respectively. Currently, multiple myeloma is diagnosed at a rate of 11 per 100,000 males and 6.4 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of multiple myeloma is 71 years in males and 72 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 1.8% of all cancers diagnosed and 2.1% of all cancer-related deaths in 2024, multiple myeloma was the 13th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 15th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria in 2024.

Trends in multiple myeloma over time

Figure 3a shows for males between 1994 to 2024 the age standardised incidence rate of multiple myeloma increased by an average of 1.7% per year. However this result was not statistically significant, meaning the change cannot be confidently considered real and may be due to random fluctuations.

For females between 2012 to 2024 the age standardised incidence rate of multiple myeloma increased by an average of 0.06% per year. However this result wasn’t statistically significant, meaning the change cannot be confidently considered real and may be due to random fluctuations.

Geographical variance in multiple myeloma by local government area

Figure 4 demonstrates variation in the estimated risk of being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, by local government area, relative to the Victorian average. Red shading indicates areas with higher risk and blue shading indicates areas with lower risk relative to Victoria.

Multiple myeloma in people born overseas

Figure 5 shows the standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) of multiple myeloma in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2019 to 2023. The highest standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for mutlipe myeloma was 1.0 for males born in the Other Europe region and the lowest SIR of 0.54 was observed in males born in the North-East Asia region. The highest standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for multiple myeloma was 1.6 for females born in the Africa region and the lowest SIR of 0.42 was observed in females born in the North-East Asia region.

Multiple myeloma five-year relative survival

Figure 6 shows the change in 5-year survival for multiple myeloma, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for multiple myeloma between 1985-1989 and 2020-2024 from 26% to 69%.