Measurable residual disease in multiple myeloma: ready for clinical practice?

• Published in: Journal of hematology and oncology Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 82
• Main Authors: Burgos, Leire, Puig, Noemi, Cedena, Maria-Teresa, Mateos, María-Victoria, Lahuerta, Juan José, Paiva, Bruno, San-Miguel, Jesús F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22.06.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Biomarkers, Tumor; Bone Marrow - pathology; Clinical medicine; Clinical practice; Clinical trials; Clinical Trials as Topic; Daratumumab; Development and progression; Disease Management; Flow cytometry; Forecasting; Gene Rearrangement; Genes, Immunoglobulin; Hematology; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Immunophenotyping; Medical research; MRD; Multiple myeloma; Multiple Myeloma - blood; Multiple Myeloma - diagnostic imaging; Multiple Myeloma - pathology; Myeloma; Neoplasm, Residual; Oncology; Plasma cells; Prognosis; Progression-Free Survival; Remission; Reproducibility of Results; Review; Risk; Sensitivity and Specificity; Standardization; Surrogate; Survival Analysis; Therapies, Investigational; Treatment Outcome; Plasma cells; Myeloma; Surrogate; Clinical practice; MRD
• ISSN: 1756-8722; 1756-8722
• DOI: 10.1186/s13045-020-00911-4

The landscape of multiple myeloma (MM) has changed considerably in the past two decades regarding new treatments, insight into disease biology and innovation in the techniques available to assess measurable residual disease (MRD) as the most accurate method to evaluate treatment efficacy. The sensitivity and standardization achieved by these techniques together with unprecedented rates of complete remission (CR) induced by new regimens, raised enormous interest in MRD as a surrogate biomarker of patients' outcome and endpoint in clinical trials. By contrast, there is reluctance and general lack of consensus on how to use MRD outside clinical trials. Here, we discuss critical aspects related with the implementation of MRD in clinical practice.