Myeloma incidence statistics

Myeloma is the 19th most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 2% of all new cancer cases (2017-2019).[1-4]

In females in the UK, myeloma is the 18th most common cancer (1% of all new female cancer cases). In males in the UK, it is the 16th most common cancer (2% of all new male cancer cases).

42% of myeloma cases in the UK are in females, and 58% are in males.

Myeloma incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rate Open a glossary item) for persons are significantly lower than the UK average in Scotland and Wales and are similar to the UK average in all other UK constituent countries.

For myeloma, there are few established risk factors therefore differences between countries largely reflect differences in diagnosis and data recording.

Myeloma (C90), Average Number of New Cases Per Year, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Cases 2,226 204 118 75 2,623
Crude Rate 7.9 7.3 7.4 7.8 7.8
AS Rate 7.9 7.0 6.7 8.4 7.7
AS Rate - 95% LCL 7.7 6.4 6.0 7.3 7.6
AS Rate - 95% UCL 8.1 7.5 7.4 9.5 7.9
Male Cases 3,090 271 152 105 3,617
Crude Rate 11.2 10.2 9.8 11.3 11.0
AS Rate 12.8 11.4 10.0 13.8 12.5
AS Rate - 95% LCL 12.5 10.6 9.1 12.3 12.3
AS Rate - 95% UCL 13.0 12.2 10.9 15.3 12.8
Persons Cases 5,316 475 270 179 6,240
Crude Rate 9.5 8.7 8.6 9.5 9.4
AS Rate 10.1 8.9 8.2 11.0 9.9
AS Rate - 95% LCL 9.9 8.5 7.6 10.0 9.8
AS Rate - 95% UCL 10.3 9.4 8.8 11.9 10.1
95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C90.

Last reviewed:

In the UK in 2017-2019, on average each year more than 4 in 10 new cases (43%) were in people aged 75 and over.[1-4]

Age-specific incidence rates rise from age 35-39 more steeply for males than females and drop in the oldest age groups. The highest rates are in the 80 to 84 age group for females and the 85 to 89 age group for males.

Incidence rates are significantly lower for females than males in a number of (mainly older) age groups. The gap is widest at age 90+, when the age-specific incidence rate is 2.1 times lower for females than males.

Myeloma (C90), Average Number of New Cases per Year and Age-Specific Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2017-2019

For myeloma, like most cancer types, incidence increases with age. This largely reflects cell DNA damage accumulating over time. Damage can result from biological processes or from exposure to risk factors. A drop or plateau in incidence in the oldest age groups often indicates reduced diagnostic activity perhaps due to general ill health.

 

See also

Myeloma mortality statistics by age

Myeloma survival statistics by age

Cancer incidence statistics by age for all cancers

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C90.

Last reviewed:

Myeloma European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item incidence rates for females and males combined increased by 36% in the UK between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019.[1-4] The increase was larger in males than in females.

For females, myeloma AS incidence rates in the UK increased by 25% between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019. For males, myeloma AS incidence rates in the UK increased by 40% between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), myeloma AS incidence rates for females and males combined increased by 10%. In females AS incidence rates increased by 7%, and in males rates increased by 11%.

Myeloma (ICD-10 C90), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, Persons Population, 1993 to 2019

Myeloma incidence rates have increased overall in most broad age groups in females and males combined in the UK since the early 1990s, but have remained stable in some.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have increased by 63%, in 50-59s have increased by 41%, in 60-69s have increased by 29%, in 70-79s have increased by 36% and in 80+s have increased by 38%.

Myeloma (ICD-10 C90), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates per 100,000 Persons Population, By Age, UK, 1993-2019

For myeloma, like most cancer types, incidence trends largely reflect changing prevalence of risk factors and improvements in diagnosis and data recording. Recent incidence trends are influenced by risk factor prevalence in years past, and trends by age group reflect risk factor exposure in birth cohorts.

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 1993-2019, ICD-10 C90.

Last reviewed:

The number of new myeloma cases on average each year in the UK is projected to rise from around 6,800 cases in 2023-2025 to around 8,300 cases in 2038-2040.[1]

Myeloma incidence rates are projected to rise by less than 1% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 10 cases per 100,000 people on average each year by 2038-2040.[1] This includes a similar increase for males and females.

For females, myeloma European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item incidence rates in the UK are projected to rise by 1% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 8 cases per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1] For males, AS rates are projected to rise by less than 1% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 12 cases per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1]

Myeloma (C90), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, by Sex, UK, 1993-2040

Download the data table (xlsx)

See also

Find out how these projections were calculated

Incidence trends over time for myeloma

Projections of incidence for all cancers combined

Myeloma risk

Download the projections data table

References

Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, February 2023. Age-period-cohort modelling approach described here, using 2020-based population projections (Office for National Statistics) and observed cancer incidence (1975-2018 for England, Scotland and Wales, 1993-2018 for Northern Ireland).

About this data

Projections are based on incidence data from 1975-2018 (England, Scotland and Wales) and 1993-2018 (Northern Ireland); the above figure presents all UK data from 1993-2018 (observed) and 2019-2040 (projected). Number of new cases and age-standardised rates are presented as annual averages for each 3-year rolling period. ICD-10 codes C90.

Projections are based on observed incidence rates and therefore implicitly include changes in cancer risk factors and diagnosis. Confidence intervals are not calculated for the projected figures. Projections are by their nature uncertain because unexpected events in future could change the trend. It is not sensible to calculate a boundary of uncertainty around these already uncertain point estimates. Changes are described as 'increase' or 'decrease' if there is any difference between the point estimates.

More on projections methodology

Last reviewed:

Myeloma incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rates Open a glossary item) in England in females are similar in the most deprived quintile compared with the least, and in males are similar in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017).[1]

See also

Data table: Cancer incidence rates and excess cases by cancer type in England

Incidence by deprivation for all cancer types combined

Myeloma mortality by deprivation  (not directly comparable with incidence by deprivation)

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Scotland

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Wales

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Northern Ireland

References

  1. Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, April 2020. Based on method reported in National Cancer Intelligence Network Cancer by Deprivation in England Incidence, 1996-2010 Mortality, 1997-2011 . Using cancer incidence data 2013-2017 (Public Health England) and population data 2013-2017 (Office for National Statistics) by Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2015 income domain quintile, cancer type, sex, and five-year age band.

About this data

Data is for England, 2013-2017, ICD-10 C21.

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

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