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Imaging modalities used in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma have evolved and most of them are also suitable for either early or mid-term monitoring of response to novel antimyeloma therapy. This pictorial essay focuses on modern imaging techniques for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with multiple myeloma in order to highlight their individual strengths and limitations. Also, the impact of recently established modern pharmaceutical therapy, like anti-angiogenic medication, on the tumor is addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) was reported as a rare complication of COVID‐19 vaccines. We conducted a retrospective single‐center analysis of all ITP cases detected in 2021 and compared the quantity with the pre‐vaccination years, from 2018 to 2020. In 2021, a two‐fold increase in ITP cases was identified compared to previous years; 11 of 40 cases (27.5%) were considered COVID‐19‐vaccine related. Our study highlights an increase in ITP cases at our institution, probably related to COVID‐19 vaccinations. Further studies are needed to investigate this finding globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine if arterial-spin-labelling (ASL) MRI can reliably detect early response to anti-angiogenic therapy in patients with multiple myeloma by comparison with clinical/haematological response.Methods: Nineteen consecutive patients (10 men; mean age 63.5 ± 9.1 years) were included in the present study. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of stage III multiple myeloma and clinical indication for therapeutical administration of bortezomib or lenalidomide. We performed MRI on 3.0T MR in the baseline setting, 3 weeks after onset of therapy and after 8 weeks. Clinical responses were determined on the basis of international uniform response criteria in correlation with haematological parameters and medium-term patient outcome. MRI studies were performed after approval by the local institutional review board.Results: Fifteen patients responded to anti-myeloma therapy; 4/19 patients were non-responders to therapy. Mean tumour perfusion assessed by ASL-MRI in a reference lesion was 220.7 ± 132.5 ml min(-1) 100 g(-1) at baseline, and decreased to 125.7 ± 86.3 (134.5 ± 150.9) ml min(-1) 100 g(-1) 3 (8) weeks after onset of therapy (P < 0.02). The mean decrease in paraproteinaemia at week 3 (8) was 52.3 ± 47.7% (58.2 ± 58.7%), whereas β2-microglobulinaemia decreased by 20.3 ± 53.1% (23.3 ± 57.0%). Correlation of ASL perfusion with outcome was significant (P = 0.0037).Conclusion: ASL tumour perfusion measurements are a valuable surrogate parameter for early assessment of response to novel anti-angiogenic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite of the introduction of novel treatment modalities for multiple myeloma, high-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem-cell rescue is still considered the standard of care for eligible patients <65 years of age. As we have previously reported, stem-cell grafts regularly contain quantities of plasma cells measurable by flow cytometry. However, the pathogenetic significance of this finding remains unknown. Multiple myeloma patients ( n = 60) were mobilized with chemotherapy and filgrastim. Peripheral blood stem cell grafts were obtained by standard leukapheresis, and the number of CD38++/CD138+ cells/kg was determined by flow cytometry. Plasma cell contamination above a threshold of 4.5 × 105 plasma cells/kg was considered “high”, whereas lower quantities of plasma cells or absent plasma cells in the graft were considered “low”. Progression-free survival: the median statistical progression-free survival was 33.5 months (range 11–99 months) in the high-contamination group ( n = 16) versus 47 months (range 8–148 months) in the low-contamination group ( n = 44). This difference turned out not to be statistically significant ( P = 0.15). However, the difference was highly significant regarding overall survival with 53 months (range 11–119 months) in the high-contamination group and with 114 months (range 8–158 months) in the low-contamination group ( P = 0.012). Patients with >4.5 × 105 plasma cells/kg contaminating the peripheral blood stem cell graft received after high-dose chemotherapy have a significantly reduced overall survival. Whether high contamination of grafts with plasma cells might reflect residual in vivo tumor mass prior to stem cell transplantation and a generally more aggressive behavior of malignant myeloma cells in these patients, or whether reinfused plasma cells contribute to an unfavorable course of disease remains to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone is a standard treatment for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation. We sought to determine whether the addition of daratumumab would significantly reduce the risk of disease progression or death in this population. METHODS We randomly assigned 737 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who were ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation to receive daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone (daratumumab group) or lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone (control group). Treatment was to continue until the occurrence of disease progression or unacceptable side effects. The primary end point was progression-free survival. RESULTS At a median follow-up of 28.0 months, disease progression or death had occurred in 240 patients (97 of 368 patients [26.4%] in the daratumumab group and 143 of 369 patients [38.8%] in the control group). The estimated percentage of patients who were alive without disease progression at 30 months was 70.6% (95% confidence interval [Cl], 65.0 to 75.4) in the daratumumab group and 55.6% (95% Cl, 49.5 to 61.3) in the control group (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.56; 95% Cl, 0.43 to 0.73; P<0.001). The percentage of patients with a complete response or better was 47.6% in the daratumumab group and 24.9% in the control group (PcO.001). A total of 24.2% of the patients in the daratumumab group, as compared with 7.3% of the patients in the control group, had results below the threshold for minimal residual disease (1 tumor cell per 105 white cells) (P<0.001). The most common adverse events of grade 3 or 4 were neutropenia (50.0% in the daratumumab group vs. 35.3% in the control group), anemia (11.8% vs. 19.7%), lymphopenia (15.1% vs. 10.7%), and pneumonia (13.7% vs. 7.9%). CONCLUSIONS Among patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who were ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation, the risk of disease progression or death was significantly lower among those who received daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone than among those who received lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone. A higher incidence of neutropenia and pneumonia was observed in the daratumumab group [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare qualitative and quantitative computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters for longitudinal disease monitoring of multiple myeloma (MM) of the axial skeleton.Materials and Methods: We included 31 consecutive patients (17 m; mean age 59.20 ± 8.08 years) with MM, who underwent all baseline (n = 31) and at least one or more (n = 47) follow-up examinations consisting of multi-parametric non-enhanced whole-body MRI (WBMRI) and non-enhanced whole-body reduced-dose thin-section MDCT (NEWBMDCT) between 06/2013 and 09/2016. We classified response according to qualitative CT criteria into progression (PD), stable(SD), partial/very good partial (PR/VGPR) and complete response(CR), grouping the latter three together for statistical analysis because CT cannot reliably assess PR and CR. Qualitative MR-response criteria were defined and grouped similarly to CT using longitudinal quantification of signal-intensity changes on T1w/STIR/ T2*w and calculating ADC-values. Standard of reference was the hematological laboratory (M-gradient).Results: Hematological response categories were CR (14/47, 29.7%), PR (2/47, 4.2%), SD (16/47, 34.0%) and PD (15/47, 29.9%). Qualitative-CT-evaluation showed PD in 12/47 (25.5%) and SD/PR/VGPR/CR in 35/47 (74.5%) cases. These results were confirmed by quantitative-CT in all focal lytic lesions (p < 0.001). Quantitative-CT at sites with diffuse bone involvement showed significant increase of maximum bone attenuation (p < 0.001*) and significant decrease of minimal bone (p < 0.002*) in the SD/PR/VGPR/CR group. Qualitative MRI showed PD in 14/47 (29.7%) and SD/PR/VGPR/CR in 33/47 (70.3%). Quantitative MRI diagnosis showed a statistically significant decrease in signal intensity on short tau inversion recovery sequences (STIR) in bone marrow in patients with diffuse bone marrow involvement achieving SD/PR/VGPR/CR (p < 0.001*).Conclusion: Imaging response monitoring using MRI is superior to CT only if qualitative parameters are used, whereas there was no definite benefit from using quantitative parameters with either CT or MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this report, a panel of European myeloma experts discuss the role of pomalidomide in the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). Based on the available evidence, the combination of pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone is a well-tolerated and effective treatment option for patients with RRMM who have exhausted treatment with lenalidomide and bortezomib. The optimal starting dose of pomalidomide is 4 mg given on days 1-21 of each 28-day cycle, whereas dexamethasone is administered at a dose of 40 mg weekly (reduced to 20 mg for patients aged >75 years). The treatment should continue until evidence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Dose-modification schemes have been established for patients who develop neutropenia, thrombocytopaenia and other grade 3-4 adverse events during pomalidomide therapy. Guidance on the prevention and management of infections and venous thromboembolism is provided, based on the available clinical evidence and the experience of panel members. The use of pomalidomide in special populations, such as patients with advanced age, renal impairment or unfavourable cytogenetic features, is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]