01 Clinical context
Relapse keepschangingthe question.
Explore the clinical context
Multiple myeloma remains incurable for most patients, and most eventually relapse. Signals from the bone-marrow microenvironment can support myeloma-cell survival and contribute to drug resistance.
That makes durable control of core survival biology—not only another pass at a familiar signal—an important research goal.
Marrow niche
Diagnostic entry: ≥10% clonal marrow plasma cells or a biopsy-proven plasmacytoma, plus ≥1 myeloma-defining event. Biomarker: ≥60%; MRI: >1 focal lesion, each ≥5 mm.
IMWG criteriaTreatment pressure
2024 meta-analysis in newly diagnosed myeloma: PFS HR 0.55; OS HR 0.65; MRD-negative at 10⁻⁵ RR 1.39 for quadruplets vs triplets.
Blood AdvancesDisease burden
2026 U.S.: 36,000 new cases; 10,850 deaths. Five-year relative survival: 63.7% (2016–2022).
NCI SEER