What Is a Prognosis?
A prognosis is a doctor’s best guess about how a disease might develop and what the outcome could be. Your prognosis depends on things like your age, how quickly the disease is growing, and how well you respond to treatment. It can also help give a general idea of how the disease might affect your lifespan.
How Is WM Scored?
Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) doesn’t use a standard cancer staging system. Instead, doctors use something called a prognostic score to help understand how the disease might behave and how it may affect a person’s lifespan.
The most common tool is called theInternational Prognostic Scoring System for Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (IPSSWM). It’s used for people with WM who need treatment.
This score is based on five things:
- Age
- Hemoglobin level (a measure of red blood cells)
- Platelet count
- Beta-2 microglobulin level (a protein that can show how active the disease is)
- Monoclonal IgM level in your blood (a type of antibody made by WM cells)
What Do Risk Groups Mean?
Based on these five factors, people are placed into one of three groups:
- Low risk
- Intermediate (medium) risk
- High risk
Your risk group helps your doctor decide on a treatment plan and talk with you about your possible lifespan and quality of life.
Is the Outlook for WM Improving?
Yes. Thanks to new treatments, people with WM are living longer than before. Recent studies show that many people live 14 to 16 years or more after being diagnosed. Since WM is usually found in older adults, their survival time is often close to the average for people their age without WM.
Why Don’t Survival Numbers Tell the Whole Story?
Survival rates are based on how large groups of people with WM respond to treatment. But everyone is different. Your personal outlook depends on many things, like your overall health, how easy it is for you to get treatment, and how well your body handles side effects.
Talk to your doctor to get the most accurate information about your individual situation.
Dr. Jeffrey Matous of the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute discusses prognosis and survival in this short video, entitled, “Doctor, How Long Am I Going to Live?”
