ASCO 2026 Highlights International Multiple Myeloma Research Collaboration Between Premier Applied Sciences and Mango Sciences
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has spotlighted new research from Premier Applied Sciences (PAS) and Mango Sciences Inc. during the ASCO 2026 Annual Meeting, underscoring the growing importance of international collaboration in advancing cancer research and improving patient outcomes. The study, titled “Multiple Myeloma in the United States and India: An International, Collaborative Study Comparing Patient Characteristics and Treatment Patterns,” provides valuable insights into how patients with multiple myeloma are treated across two distinct healthcare systems and offers a unique perspective on global treatment trends.
The research was accepted under the Hematologic Malignancies – Plasma Cell Dyscrasia track at ASCO 2026, a category that focuses on emerging therapies and treatment approaches for multiple myeloma and related plasma cell disorders. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence demonstrating how real-world data can help researchers, clinicians and policymakers better understand variations in treatment access, utilization and outcomes across countries.
Multiple Myeloma: A Growing Global Health Challenge
Multiple myeloma is one of the most common hematologic cancers worldwide. The disease develops in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell found in bone marrow that plays a critical role in the immune system. When plasma cells become malignant, they multiply uncontrollably and can interfere with the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells, resulting in complications such as anemia, bone damage, kidney dysfunction and weakened immunity.
Over the past decade, treatment options for multiple myeloma have expanded significantly. Advances in precision medicine, immunotherapy and cellular therapy have transformed the treatment landscape, offering patients more effective therapies and longer survival rates than ever before.
Innovations such as proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies have dramatically improved outcomes for many patients. However, access to these therapies varies considerably across regions due to differences in healthcare infrastructure, reimbursement policies, insurance coverage and economic resources.
Understanding how these factors influence treatment decisions is increasingly important as healthcare systems seek to deliver equitable access to advanced cancer care.
Study Design and Data Sources
To better understand international differences in multiple myeloma care, researchers from PAS and Mango Sciences conducted a retrospective observational study using real-world data from the United States and India.
The study focused on patients who were newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma over a 21-month period and who had at least one year of follow-up information available for analysis.
Researchers utilized two extensive healthcare databases:
Patient Population
The study identified a substantial number of patients with multiple myeloma across both countries.
Researchers analyzed data from:
- 77,901 patients in the United States
- 2,268 patients in India
The large sample size enabled investigators to evaluate demographic characteristics, treatment utilization patterns and differences in access to advanced therapies across healthcare systems.
The analysis revealed notable variations in patient populations and treatment approaches between the two countries.
Differences in Patient Characteristics
One of the most significant findings involved differences in patient demographics.
Researchers found that patients in the United States tended to be older at diagnosis compared with patients in India. This observation may reflect differences in population demographics, healthcare access, screening practices and life expectancy between the two countries.
The study also found that U.S. patients were substantially more likely to have health insurance coverage. Insurance status can influence access to specialists, diagnostic services and newer therapies, making it an important factor in cancer treatment and outcomes.
These demographic differences highlight the importance of considering healthcare system characteristics when comparing treatment patterns across countries.
Treatment Utilization Patterns
The analysis also revealed meaningful differences in treatment utilization.
Interestingly, a larger proportion of patients in India received multiple myeloma-related drug treatment compared with patients in the United States. While the reasons for this observation require further investigation, researchers suggest that differences in treatment pathways, care settings and patient selection may contribute to the finding.
Despite differences in healthcare systems, some treatment trends were remarkably consistent across both countries.
Corticosteroids Remain a Foundation of Care
Corticosteroids emerged as the most commonly used treatment class in both the United States and India.
Steroids such as dexamethasone continue to serve as a cornerstone of multiple myeloma therapy due to their effectiveness in reducing inflammation and helping control malignant plasma cells. They are frequently combined with other therapeutic agents as part of standard treatment regimens.
The widespread use of corticosteroids in both countries reflects their longstanding role in myeloma management and their accessibility across diverse healthcare settings.
Greater Use of Proteasome Inhibitors in India
Researchers observed that proteasome inhibitors were used more frequently among patients in India.
Proteasome inhibitors, including agents such as bortezomib, have become essential components of frontline multiple myeloma treatment. These therapies disrupt cellular protein degradation pathways within cancer cells, ultimately leading to tumor cell death.
The higher utilization rate observed in India may reflect local treatment practices, prescribing preferences and availability of specific therapies.
Increased Adoption of Novel Therapies in the United States
In contrast, patients in the United States were more likely to receive newer and highly specialized therapies.
These included:
- Daratumumab-based therapies
- Bispecific antibodies
- CAR-T cell therapies
Daratumumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CD38, has become a major advancement in multiple myeloma treatment due to its ability to improve response rates and survival outcomes.
Bispecific antibodies represent another significant innovation by simultaneously engaging immune cells and cancer cells to stimulate targeted anti-tumor activity.
CAR-T therapy, one of the most advanced forms of cellular immunotherapy, involves genetically modifying a patient’s T-cells to recognize and attack cancer cells. Although highly effective for some patients, CAR-T therapy remains resource-intensive and may be limited by infrastructure requirements and cost considerations.
The greater use of these advanced therapies in the United States underscores the role of healthcare access, reimbursement mechanisms and treatment availability in shaping patient care.
Implications for Global Oncology
The study provides valuable insights into how healthcare systems influence cancer treatment utilization.
While both countries demonstrated consistent use of established frontline therapies, significant differences emerged in the adoption of recently introduced treatments. These findings suggest that factors beyond clinical need—including economic considerations, insurance coverage and healthcare infrastructure—play an important role in determining access to innovation.
For clinicians and policymakers, understanding these differences is critical for designing strategies that improve treatment equity and optimize patient outcomes.
The results may also help identify opportunities to expand access to emerging therapies in regions where utilization remains limited.
The Value of Real-World Evidence
A key strength of the study is its reliance on real-world data rather than controlled clinical trial populations.
Real-world evidence provides insights into how therapies are used in routine clinical practice, capturing a broader and more diverse patient population than traditional clinical trials. Such evidence can help researchers evaluate treatment effectiveness, safety and utilization patterns in everyday healthcare settings.
The collaboration between PAS and Mango Sciences demonstrates how international data partnerships can generate meaningful evidence that informs clinical practice and healthcare policy on a global scale.
By linking data from multiple healthcare systems, researchers can identify trends that may not be visible within a single country and develop a more comprehensive understanding of disease management worldwide.
Expanding Opportunities for Cross-National Research
The study also highlights the growing importance of international collaborations in oncology research.
As healthcare data becomes increasingly available and interoperable, researchers are gaining new opportunities to compare treatment approaches across regions, evaluate healthcare disparities and identify best practices.
Cross-national analyses can help healthcare leaders understand how different systems deliver care and where improvements can be made to increase efficiency, accessibility and quality.
For diseases such as multiple myeloma, where treatment options continue to evolve rapidly, these insights are particularly valuable.
Premier Applied Sciences’ Research Mission
Premier Applied Sciences continues to play a significant role in generating evidence that supports healthcare improvement across multiple sectors.
The organization collaborates with healthcare providers, life sciences companies, academic institutions and government agencies to conduct research aimed at improving care quality, patient safety and healthcare affordability.
By combining clinical expertise with advanced analytics and extensive healthcare databases, PAS supports a wide range of research initiatives, including observational studies, outcomes research and clinical trials.
The ASCO 2026 presentation reflects the organization’s commitment to leveraging data-driven insights to address some of healthcare’s most pressing challenges.
About the Study
Multiple myeloma is one of the most common hematological malignancies globally, with an expanding array of treatment options including targeted therapies, bispecific antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies. Despite this therapeutic progress, significant differences in patient demographics, access to care and treatment utilization persist across geographies — and are not yet fully understood.
The PAS research team, in collaboration with Mango Sciences, analyzed real-world data from patients newly diagnosed with MM over a 21-month period and followed for at least one year. U.S. patient data was sourced from hospital chargemaster records in the Premier Healthcare Database (PHD), while Indian patient data was drawn from electronic medical records in Mango Sciences’ Healthcare Database.
