Clinical Information

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignancy of bone marrow plasma cells with an annual incidence of 200,000 per annum. Comprehensive clinical, radiologic, and laboratory evaluation can initially stratify patients by disease phase and burden. Cytogenetic and FISH studies are important to help classify MM into standard, intermediate, and high risk groups. Advances in nontargeted therapies, including autologous bone marrow transplantation, have significantly improved the outcome of many patients; however, most patients with myeloma suffer relapse after initial treatment. Clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has enabled a deeper and more detailed evaluation of MM genetics. Testing allows for further risk categorization of the disease through the identification of additional abnormalities of prognostic and potentially therapeutic value. Application of targeted NGS-based analysis is a useful adjunct to the standard evaluation of MM patients at diagnosis and relapse. This test comprises a DNA-based multigene panel that includes preanalytic plasma cell enrichment, NGS, and detailed analysis resulted in a clinical report.