A recently published Greek study provides updated data on the sig­nif­i­cance of MRI-detected focal lesions in the spine in patients with smol­der­ing myeloma.

The Greek study confirms that having more than one focal lesion in the spine puts a smoldering myeloma patient at a noticeably higher risk of progressing to multiple myeloma.

Focal lesions are areas of abnormal cells in the bone marrow. They are not lesions in the outer (hard) area of the bone – lesions which are often called "lytic" lesions.

The Greek researchers found that the smoldering myeloma patients …

A group of European researchers recently published an extensive review of the imaging techniques cur­rently used in the diag­nosis and follow-up of multiple myeloma and related diseases.

The researchers assessed the benefits and limitations of several dif­fer­ent imaging techniques, in­­clud­ing traditional X-rays, computed to­mog­ra­phy (CT), com­bined positron emission to­mog­ra­phy and CT scan­ning (PET/CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

According to the researchers, the whole-body X-ray skeletal survey re­mains the method of choice for the detection of bone lesions. However, they point out that whole-body CT may replace whole-body X-ray skeletal surveys, because …

Results from a German retrospective study show that repeated whole-body mag­netic resonance imaging may identify smoldering myeloma patients with an increased risk of progressing to symptomatic multiple myeloma.

In their study, the German researchers looked at smoldering myeloma patients who had whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at the time of diagnosis and during regular follow-up visits.

The researchers found that patients whose follow-up scans showed pro­gres­sion of their disease had a 16.5-fold higher risk of progressing to symptomatic myeloma than patients who had stable disease based on their follow-up scans.

The …

Results of a recent observational study show that all known molecular subtypes of multiple myeloma are already present at the early, smol­der­ing myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance stages of the disease.

According to the investigators, these findings indicate that the various molecular subtypes of myeloma, which have different genetic char­ac­ter­istics, are es­tab­lished early in the course of the disease.

The researchers defined the different molecular subtypes of myeloma they investigated based on a method called gene ex­pres­sion profiling. Using this method, they found that one subtype in particular was as­soc­i­ated …

Findings from a German retrospective study indicate that whole-body magnetic resonance imaging can help identify patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance who are at increased risk of progressing to symptomatic multiple myeloma.

The whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results show that almost one-fourth of the MGUS patients in the study had clearly defined (focal) lesions in their bone marrow.  These lesions, or areas of ab­nor­mal cells, were solely within the patients' bone marrows.  They were not lesions in the outer (hard) area of the bone -- lesions which are often called …

A few weeks ago, I underwent an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my spine. This procedure is not unusual for multiple myeloma patients. The MRI generates images of bones and organs and can be used to determine the presence and status of cancerous lesions in myeloma patients’ bones.

After my autologous stem cell transplant in March, I had developed painful carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands and wrists. My hematologist ordered an MRI to rule out spinal cord lesions as a possible cause.

Because I had undergone a couple of MRIs in …

Results of a recent German study suggest that PET-CT scans may be more reliable than whole-body MRI in determining the remission status of multiple myeloma patients after stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion.

The investigators conclude that both PET-CT and whole-body MRI provide useful in­for­ma­tion about a patient’s disease status.  However, MRI often incorrectly detects activity in bone lesions that persist after treat­ment.  They there­fore state that PET-CT may be better than MRI for determining remission status.

Similar results were found in a recent Italian study that com­pared PET-CT and MRI for the evaluation of …