BioProject

The prime focus of the current therapeutic strategy for Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an early and deep tumour burden reduction; this characterizes and defines the complete response (CR). More...

The prime focus of the current therapeutic strategy for Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an early and deep tumour burden reduction; this characterizes and defines the complete response (CR). To date, no description of the characteristics of the plasma cells (PC) prone to achieve CR has been reported. This study aimed at the molecular characterization of PC derived from MM patients who achieved CR after bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone (VTD) first line therapy. One hundred and eighteen MM primary tumours obtained from homogeneously treated patients were globally profiled both for gene expression and for single nucleotide polymorphism genotype. Genomic results were used to obtain a predictor of sensitivity to VTD induction therapy, as well as to describe both the transcription and the genomic profile of PC derived from patients with MM who will respond optimally to primary induction therapy. By analysing the gene profiles of CR patients, we identified a 5-gene signature predicting CR with an overall median accuracy of 75% (range: 72%-85%). In addition, we highlighted the differential expression of a series of genes, whose deregulation, accordingly to their reported functions, might explain the CR patients’ sensitivity to VTD therapy. We also showed that a small copy number loss, covering 606Kb on chromosome 1p22.1 was the most significantly associated with CR patients. The study provides insights into the genomic landscape of PC obtained from newly diagnosed MM patients achieving CR after VTD and shows that patients might be accurately stratified according to their sensitivity to VTD. Overall design: Affymetrix SNP arrays were performed according to the manufacturer's directions on DNA extracted from cryopreserved diagnostic CD138+ cell fractions obtained from bone marrow samples. Less...