Coexistent multiple myeloma and Paget's disease of bone

We found one patient with coexistent multiple myeloma and Paget's disease of bone in a series of 50 consecutive patients with myeloma who had had skeletal surveys between 1972 and 1979. Only 43 examples of these diseases coexisting have been previously cited. The patient reported here had extensive radiographic changes of Paget's disease and multiple myeloma with the disease involving the same bones. A second patient diagnosed in 1949 is also briefly described. Studies to date are statistically inadequate to determine if a true association between Paget's disease and multiple myeloma exists. We estimate that as many as 780 patients with myeloma and controls may be required to answer this question if the presence of Paget's disease at least doubles the risk of subsequent myeloma.