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Multiple myeloma is a malignant disease characterised by proliferation of clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow and typically accompanied by the secretion of monoclonal immunoglobulins that are detectable in the serum or urine. Increased understanding of the microenvironmental interactions between malignant plasma cells and the bone marrow niche, and their role in disease progression and acquisition of therapy resistance, has helped the development of novel therapeutic drugs for use in combination with cytostatic therapy. Together with autologous stem cell transplantation and advances in supportive care, the use of novel drugs such as proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs has increased response rates and survival substantially in the past several years. Present clinical research focuses on the balance between treatment efficacy and quality of life, the optimum sequencing of treatment options, the question of long-term remission and potential cure by multimodal treatment, the pre-emptive treatment of high-risk smouldering myeloma, and the role of maintenance. Upcoming results of ongoing clinical trials, together with a pipeline of promising new treatments, raise the hope for continuous improvements in the prognosis of patients with myeloma in the future.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a haematological lymphoid malignancy involving tumoural plasma cells and is usually characterized by the presence of a monoclonal immunoglobulin protein. MM is the second most common haematological malignancy, with an increasing global incidence. It remains incurable because most patients relapse or become refractory to treatments. MM is a genetically complex disease with high heterogeneity that develops as a multistep process, involving acquisition of genetic alterations in the tumour cells and changes in the bone marrow microenvironment. Symptomatic MM is diagnosed using the International Myeloma Working Group criteria as a bone marrow infiltration of ≥10% clonal plasma cells, and the presence of at least one myeloma-defining event, either standard CRAB features (hypercalcaemia, renal failure, anaemia and/or lytic bone lesions) or biomarkers of imminent organ damage. Younger and fit patients are considered eligible for transplant. They receive an induction, followed by consolidation with high-dose melphalan and autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation, and maintenance therapy. In older adults (ineligible for transplant), the combination of daratumumab, lenalidomide and dexamethasone is the preferred option. If relapse occurs and requires further therapy, the choice of therapy will be based on previous treatment and response and now includes immunotherapies, such as bi-specific monoclonal antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy. Multiple myeloma is a haematological lymphoid malignancy involving tumoural plasma cells. In this Primer, Malard et al. discuss the epidemiology, mechanisms, diagnosis and treatments for multiple myeloma.

Autologous stem-cell transplantation and agents such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and bortezomib have changed the management of myeloma and extended overall survival. This review discusses both the biologic features and the management of multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a neoplastic plasma-cell disorder that is characterized by clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow microenvironment, monoclonal protein in the blood or urine, and associated organ dysfunction. 1 It accounts for approximately 1% of neoplastic diseases and 13% of hematologic cancers. In Western countries, the annual age-adjusted incidence is 5.6 cases per 100,000 persons. 2 The median age at diagnosis is approximately 70 years; 37% of patients are younger than 65 years, 26% are between the ages of 65 and 74 years, and 37% are 75 years of age or older. 2 , 3 In recent years, the . . .

Cytotoxic chemotherapy targets elements common to all nucleated human cells, such as DNA and microtubules, yet it selectively kills tumor cells. Here we show that clinical response to these drugs correlates with, and may be partially governed by, the pretreatment proximity of tumor cell mitochondria to the apoptotic threshold, a property called mitochondrial priming. We used BH3 profiling to measure priming in tumor cells from patients with multiple myeloma, acute myelogenous and lymphoblastic leukemia, and ovarian cancer. This assay measures mitochondrial response to peptides derived from proapoptotic BH3 domains of proteins critical for death signaling to mitochondria. Patients with highly primed cancers exhibited superior clinical response to chemotherapy. In contrast, chemoresistant cancers and normal tissues were poorly primed. Manipulation of mitochondrial priming might enhance the efficacy of cytotoxic agents.

Recent developments have led to remarkable improvements in the assessment and treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). New technologies have become available to precisely evaluate the biology and extent of the disease, including information about cytogenetics and genetic abnormalities, extramedullary manifestations and minimal residual disease. New, more effective drugs have been introduced into clinical practice, which enable clinicians to significantly improve the outcome of patients but also pose new challenges for the prevention and management of their specific side effects. Given these various new options and challenges, it is important to identify the minimal requirements for diagnosis and treatment of patients, as access to the most sophisticated advances may vary depending on local circumstances. Here, we propose the minimal requirements and possible options for diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

Background Exercise may improve fatigue in multiple myeloma survivors, but trial evidence is limited, and exercise may be perceived as risky in this older patient group with osteolytic bone destruction. Methods In this Phase 2 Zelen trial, multiple myeloma survivors who had completed treatment at least 6 weeks ago, or were on maintenance only, were enrolled in a cohort study and randomly assigned to usual care or a 6-month exercise programme of tailored aerobic and resistance training. Outcome assessors and usual care participants were masked. The primary outcome was the FACIT-F fatigue score with higher scores denoting less fatigue. Results During 2014–2016, 131 participants were randomised 3:1 to intervention ( n  = 89) or usual care ( n  = 42) to allow for patients declining allocation to the exercise arm. There was no difference between groups in fatigue at 3 months (between-group mean difference: 1.6 [95% CI: −1.1–4.3]) or 6 months (0.3 [95% CI: −2.6–3.1]). Muscle strength improved at 3 months (8.4 kg [95% CI: 0.5–16.3]) and 6 months (10.8 kg [95% CI: 1.2–20.5]). Using per-protocol analysis, cardiovascular fitness improved at 3 months (+1.2 ml/kg/min [95% CI: 0.3–3.7]). In participants with clinical fatigue ( n  = 17), there was a trend towards less fatigue with exercise over 6 months (6.3 [95% CI: −0.6–13.3]). There were no serious adverse events. Conclusions Exercise appeared safe and improved muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness, but benefits in fatigue appeared limited to participants with clinical fatigue at baseline. Future studies should focus on patients with clinical fatigue. Clinical trial registration The study was registered with ISRCTN (38480455) and is completed.

KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF mutations which activate p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling are found in half of myeloma patients and contribute to proteasome inhibitor (PI) resistance, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We established myeloma cell lines expressing wild-type (WT), constitutively active (CA) (G12V/G13D/Q61H), or dominant-negative (DN) (S17N)-KRAS and -NRAS, or BRAF-V600E. Cells expressing CA mutants showed increased proteasome maturation protein (POMP) and nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) expression. This correlated with an increase in catalytically active proteasome subunit β (PSMB)-8, PSMB9, and PSMB10, which occurred in an ETS transcription factor-dependent manner. Proteasome chymotrypsin-like, trypsin-like, and caspase-like activities were increased, and this enhanced capacity reduced PI sensitivity, while DN-KRAS and DN-NRAS did the opposite. Pharmacologic RAF or MAPK kinase (MEK) inhibitors decreased proteasome activity, and sensitized myeloma cells to PIs. CA-KRAS, CA-NRAS, and CA-BRAF down-regulated expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress proteins, and reduced unfolded protein response activation, while DN mutations increased both. Finally, a bortezomib (BTZ)/MEK inhibitor combination showed enhanced activity in vivo specifically in CA-NRAS models. Taken together, the data support the hypothesis that activating MAPK pathway mutations enhance PI resistance by increasing proteasome capacity, and provide a rationale for targeting such patients with PI/RAF or PI/MEK inhibitor combinations. Moreover, they argue these mutations promote myeloma survival by reducing cellular stress, thereby distancing plasma cells from the apoptotic threshold, potentially explaining their high frequency in myeloma.

Novel anti-myeloma drugs have significantly improved the overall survival (OS) of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, not all MM patients treated with these drugs show survival benefits, and biologic and genetic prognostic factors are insufficient to predict the response to treatment. Decreasing treatment-related complications is important to improve the efficacy of treatment in patients with MM. The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is a screening method for poor nutritional status, which is associated with poor prognosis in several cancers because it increases the rate of treatment-related complications. We retrospectively analyzed the OS of 64 patients with symptomatic MM and evaluated the correlation between the CONUT score and patient prognosis in MM. The median age at diagnosis was 66 years, and multivariate analysis showed that a high CONUT score (≥ 5; hazard ratio, 3.937; 95% confidence interval, 1.214–12.658; P = 0.022) was an independent prognostic risk factor. Subgroup analysis was performed according to patient age because the choice of treatment strategy, particularly autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (auto-PBSCT), can vary depending on age in MM patients. Younger patients (< 65 years old) who received auto-PBSCT and had a lower CONUT score (0–3) showed a significantly better survival outcome than those with a higher CONUT score (≥ 4) (median OS, not reached vs. 64.1 months; P = 0.011). The CONUT score is simple to calculate and provides a useful prognostic indicator in patients with MM, especially transplant-eligible patients.

Renal impairment is reported in 20%–50% of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and is known as a poor prognostic factor. Although several studies have demonstrated that treatment with novel antimyeloma agents improves renal impairment and myeloma itself, the time-dependent clinical course of recovery of renal function has not been extensively studied. We retrospectively collected the data of characteristics and outcomes in consecutive unselected patients diagnosed with and treated for symptomatic multiple myeloma between January 2015 and December 2022, and extracted and analyzed the cases with renal impairment. Among 234 patients with multiple myeloma, 67 (28.6%) had renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73m 2 ) at the time of diagnosis. The median eGFR at diagnosis was 28 ml/min/1.73m 2 , and the eGFR significantly improved to 41.5 ml/min/1.73m 2 , which corresponds to a 42.9% increase, at 3 months after the initiation of treatment for myeloma ( p  < 0.0001). Further improvement in renal function was not observed at 6 months (eGFR 46 ml/min/1.73m 2 ) and 1 year (eGFR 43.5 ml/min/1.73m 2 ) after treatment initiation. The primary treatment was a bortezomib-containing regimen in approximately 90% of patients. A post hoc analysis revealed a positive correlation between the serum calcium concentration at diagnosis and improvement in renal function. In conclusion, renal function can partially recover through the treatment of multiple myeloma, and the treatment response during the first 3 months may predict the renal function prognosis. Further accumulation of cases is needed to identify the predictive factors for renal recovery.

Kidney dysfunction is a frequent complication of multiple myeloma (MM) and is associated with worse survival outcomes. Despite its prevalence, the prognostic value of long-term kidney function decline remains insufficiently explored. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) slope on survival in patients with MM. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 43 patients with MM treated at the University Medical Center Maribor between 2015 and 2020, with a minimum follow-up of 1 year. Kidney function was assessed quarterly using eGFR. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression were applied to evaluate the association between eGFR slope and overall survival. The median baseline eGFR was 52.8 mL/min/1.73m (interquartile range: 35.2 - 78.1), with 39.5% of patients classified as having stage 3 or worse chronic kidney disease. We observed an association between faster annual eGFR slope decline and increased mortality (log-rank; p < 0.001). Cox regression confirmed eGFR slope as an independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio = 1.121, 95% confidence interval: 1.069 - 1.174, p < 0.001). Additional prognostic factors included a lower platelet count. Kidney function decline is an independent prognostic factor in patients with MM. Regular monitoring and early nephrology intervention may help mitigate its impact. Future research should focus on targeted strategies to slow kidney function deterioration and improve patient outcomes.