IMWG Consensus on Risk Stratification in Multiple Myeloma.pdf

IMWG Consensus on Risk Stratification in Multiple Myeloma 1 Wee-Joo Chng , on behalf of the International Myeloma Working Group 1 Department of Haematology Oncology, National University Cancer Institute 1 Abstract Multiple myeloma is characterized by underlying clinical and biological heterogeneity, which translates to variable response to treatment and outcome. With the recent increase in treatment armamentarium and the projected further increase in approved therapeutic agents in the coming years, the issue of having some mechanism to dissect this heterogeneity and rationally apply treatment is coming to the fore. A number of robustly validated prognostic markers have been identified and the use of these markers in stratifying patients into different risk groups has been proposed. In this consensus statement, the International Myeloma Working Group proposed defined and easily applicable risked categories based on current available information and suggests the use of this set of prognostic factors as gold standards in all clinical trials and form the basis of subsequent development of more complex prognostic system or better prognostic factors. At the same time, these risk categories serve as a framework to rationalize the use of therapies. 2 Introduction Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a malignancy characterized by infiltration of clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow that secrete a monoclonal protein in the majority of patients. Several new therapies have be