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Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is rare, with an incidence rate of about 3 cases per million people per year in the United States. About 1,000 to 1,500 people are diagnosed with WM each year in the United States.
WM is more common in men than it is in women , and it is much more common among White people than Black people.
There are few cases of WM in younger people, but the chance of developing this disease goes up as people get older. The average age of people when they are diagnosed with WM is 70 .
Statistics on survival are discussed in Survival Rates for Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
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Sekhar J, Sanfilippo K, Zhang Q, et al. Waldenström macroglobulinemia: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database review from 1988 to 2005. Leuk Lymphoma. 2012;53:1625–1626.
Last Revised: July 19, 2018
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