Prognostic role of minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma patients after non-myeloablative allogeneic transplantation

This study evaluates the prognostic value of molecular monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) in 20 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) following autologous (peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, PBSCT) and non-myeloablative allogeneic (NMT) transplant. All patients completed their program, with a treatment-related mortality (TRM) of 20% and a 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 51%. After PBSCT, only 3 patients (15%) achieved PCR-negativity, versus 12 (60%) after NMT. The eradication of MRD had a favorable impact on 2-year OS. In fact, 76% of patients with no detectable MRD was still alive versus 34% of persistently IgH-positive cases (p = 0.03). PCR status did not correlate with chimerism percentage: Seventy-five percent of patients achieved full donor chimerism, which was more frequently observed in cases presenting cGHVD (p = 0.01). These data sustain the relevant role of molecular monitoring in MM patients undergoing NNIT. MRD monitoring would assist physicians in making additional therapeutic decisions to better control this hematological malignancy. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.