Hospital-at-Home Chemotherapy for Multiple Myeloma

September 30, 2025

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematological malignancy in France.

In 2018:

• 5542 new cases of multiple myeloma were diagnosed: 2822 cases in men (median age at diagnosis: 70 years) and 2620 cases in women (median age at diagnosis: 74 years)*
• About 17,000 patients with multiple myeloma received chemotherapy**

The introduction of novel injectable medicines in recent years has enabled patients with multiple myeloma to receive their chemotherapy at home. This hospital-at-home (HAH) approach has the potential to ease the burden on outpatient hospital units, reduce healthcare costs, and improve patients’ quality of life.

To better understand the use of HAH services for injectable chemotherapy for patients with multiple myeloma in France, real-world data from the French Hospital Discharge Database (Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d’Information, PMSI) were analyzed for the years 2019 and 2020.

Key findings:

• Nearly 25% of the patients included in the analysis received at least one HAH chemotherapy injection in 2019 or 2020 in metropolitan France.
• Both the number of patients with multiple myeloma treated with injectable chemotherapy in a HAH setting and the number of administrative departments in which hospitals provided HAH services increased between 2019 and 2020.
• A large increase in the use of HAH services was observed during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in France.

Despite these encouraging trends, the overall use of HAH services remained limited and unevenly distributed across regions, highlighting the need to expand access to allow more patients to benefit from the potential improvements in quality of life associated with HAH and help reduce costs for departmental healthcare services.

Find out more by reading the original article drafted by our medical writing team from the study protocol, the study report, and constructive discussions with the authors. The full text is freely available!

Sources:
*Santé Publique France: Estimations nationales de l’incidence et de la mortalité par cancer en France métropolitaine entre 1990 et 2018 – Hémopathies malignes : Étude à partir des registres des cancers du réseau Francim
**French Hospital Discharge Database (Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d’Information, PMSI)
Image: Solution Banque de photos par Vecteezy

Reference of the publication: Vincent L, Jannot AS, Mechiche H, Rodts U, Désaméricq G. Use of Hospital-at-Home Services for Injectable Chemotherapy for Patients With Multiple Myeloma in France in 2019 and 2020: A Real-World Nationwide Study Based on the French Hospital Discharge Database. EJHaem. 2025 Sep 11;6(5):e70144. doi: 10.1002/jha2.70144.