A recent European study found that the percentage of plasma cells detected in a bone marrow sample is a strong predictor of multiple myeloma progression following stem cell transplantation.

Although the current definition for complete remission requires less than 5 percent of plasma cells in a bone marrow sample, the study’s authors found that patients with more than 1.5 percent bone marrow plasma cells were more likely to progress. Additionally, there was a trend toward shorter survival in these patients.

The study authors concluded that a bone marrow examination should be one …

Even though doctors sometimes skip bone marrow exams during clinical trials, a Mayo Clinic study discovered that they are crucial after experimental multiple myeloma treatments. Other standard tests for multiple myeloma patients’ responses to treatments can give false positives if used alone. The study was published in the journal Blood in late July.

Whether the study’s findings will apply to patients not in clinical trials is up for debate. However, the findings are very important to doctors doing clinical trials with patients, wrote Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar, lead researcher of the study, …