Articles tagged with: Minimal Residual Disease
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The 2014 International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) Annual Summit took place in Milan, Italy on June 9 and 10.
The summit is a special meeting organized by the International Myeloma Foundation in which leading myeloma researchers get to brainstorm collectively about the most pressing issues in the field, find ways to collaborate, and plan future laboratory and clinical studies.
The IMWG summit is hailed by most attendees as the most important meeting for myeloma researchers worldwide. It is a unique opportunity for investigators in the field to engage in lively debate but, …
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The Beacon is pleased to introduce our newest myeloma thought leader columnist, Dr. Ravi Vij. Every three months, Dr. Vij will share with us a new edition of “The Myeloma Quiz,” which will test your knowledge and understanding of the myeloma-related research published during the previous several months.
We hope you will join us in welcoming Dr. Vij to the Beacon community, and in thanking him for sharing with us his valuable perspectives.
The relentless grind in the battle against myeloma continues. The last several months have seen some major presentations …
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A recent Spanish study adds important findings to the growing literature about the measurement and significance of minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma.
Myeloma patients are said to have minimal residual disease if, after having responded well to treatment, they nevertheless continue to have myeloma cells in their bodies.
In their study, the Spanish researchers used a sensitive new technique known as deep sequencing to conduct minimal residual disease testing. They used the technique to test for residual disease in bone marrow samples from myeloma patients who had completed their first line …
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Results of several studies investigating Revlimid maintenance therapy for multiple myeloma will be presented at this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, which starts later this week.
Today’s article previews the results of the key Revlimid maintenance studies that will be presented at the meeting, drawing on findings published in the meeting abstracts. Some of the study results, it should be noted, will be updated during the presentations at ASH this week and early next week.
The results to be presented at ASH are unlikely to settle the ongoing debate …
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Study Reveals Variations In Minimal Residual Disease Testing For Myeloma – Results from a recent study suggest that testing for residual multiple myeloma after treatment varies widely across medical institutions in the United States. Among 26 institutions surveyed, 42 percent offered testing services for minimal residual disease (MRD). In addition, the tests conducted by some institutions were 100-fold more sensitive than others at detecting residual cells. The parameters used to identify myeloma cells and the number of myeloma cells needed to classify a sample as MRD-positive also varied across institutions. According to the investigators, these findings highlight the need for collaborative efforts to develop standardized criteria for MRD testing. They added that future studies are also required to identify the best time to test for residual disease. Myeloma cells that remain in the bone marrow after treatment contribute to residual disease. Detecting residual disease is thought to be important since previous studies have linked residual disease to shorter survival. MRD testing is performed on bone marrow cells, typically using a technique called flow cytometry. Most of the institutions in this study tested for MRD upon achievement of a complete response. For more information, please see the study in the journal Blood (subscription required).
Blood Levels Of BAFF Protein Linked To Myeloma Disease Activity – Findings from a recent Greek study suggest that blood levels of the protein BAFF can be used as a marker of disease activity in multiple myeloma patients. B cell activating factor (BAFF) plays a critical role in the proliferation of plasma cells. Comparing blood samples from 54 newly diagnosed myeloma patients and 24 healthy individuals, the researchers found that BAFF levels were significantly increased in myeloma patients. Patients with advanced myeloma showed higher BAFF levels than patients with early stage disease. The researchers also measured the concentrations of a number of proteins involved in plasma cell proliferation (including interleukin-6 and interleukin-10) and found that BAFF levels closely paralleled the levels of these proteins. The investigators further measured BAFF concentrations in a subset of patients after they achieved a complete response or very good partial response with chemotherapy. These results showed that BAFF levels were significantly decreased after effective treatment. Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that levels of BAFF in the blood can be used as a marker for myeloma cell proliferation and disease activity. For more information, please see the study in BioMed Research International.
Presence Of Protein CD20 May Predict Disease Outcome In Myeloma Patients With Chromosomal Abnormality t(11;14) – Chinese researchers have recently found that myeloma patients with the chromosomal abnormality t(11;14) may show normal or poor disease outcome depending upon the presence of a protein called CD20. After Velcade (bortezomib)-based treatment, patients whose myeloma cells contained both t(11;14) and the CD20 protein showed significantly longer progression-free survival than patients who had t(11;14) without CD20 (43 months versus 11 months). Overall survival was also longer in patients whose myeloma cells had CD20 as compared to patients without CD20 (54 months versus 17 months). Although t(11;14) is the most common chromosomal abnormality seen in myeloma cells, its impact on treatment outcome has remained controversial (see related Beacon news). In general, patients with t(11;14) are not classified as having high-risk disease. As a caveat, findings from this China-based study may not be directly applicable to myeloma patients of other ethnicities and will therefore require further validation. For more information, please see the study in Leukemia Research (abstract).
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Researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently published what they describe as a "curative blueprint" for myeloma.
The "blueprint" outlines key issues the researchers believe need to be addressed if medical science is to achieve a cure for myeloma.
A crucial question that needs to be answered, the researchers argue, is whether treating "early myeloma" is more advantageous than waiting until the disease has progressed to the symptomatic, or active, stage.
The NIH researchers define "early myeloma" as symptomatic myeloma with limited organ damage, or smoldering multiple myeloma with …
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The results of two recent European studies provide new insights into minimal residual disease detection and its potential value in the treatment of multiple myeloma.
The first study, carried out in Spain, used two different methods to detect minimal residual disease (MRD) in myeloma patients. The study found that the two methods led to similar results, and that MRD levels may be a better predictor of patient prognosis than traditional measures of treatment response.
The second study was conducted by researchers in Britain using data from a large clinical trial carried out …