The role of imaging techniques in the management of multiple myeloma

New PET Tracers for Symptomatic Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by the clonal proliferation of plasma cells within the bone marrow. Accurate staging and monitoring of disease progression are crucial for effective management. PET imaging has emerged as a powerful tool in the diagnosis and management of MM, with radiotracers like 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose and novel agents playing a pivotal role. This review explores the current state of PET imaging in multiple myeloma, focusing on its role in initial staging, response assessment, and prognosis prediction, with an emphasis on recent advancements.

Navigating the clinical landscape: Update on the diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma, a complex hematologic malignancy, has devastating consequences for patients, including dramatic bone loss, severe bone pain, and pathological fractures that markedly decrease the quality of life and impact the survival of affected patients. This necessitates a refined understanding of biomarkers for accurate diagnosis and prognosis of such severe malignancy. Therefore, this article comprehensively covers current research, elucidating the diverse spectrum of biomarkers employed in clinical settings. From traditional serum markers to advanced molecular profiling techniques, the review provides a thorough examination of their utility and limitations. Through this scoping review, emphasis is placed on the evolving landscape of personalized medicine, where biomarkers play a pivotal role in tailoring therapeutic strategies. The integration of genomic, proteomic, next generation sequencing and flow cytometric data further enriches the discussion, unravelling the molecular intricacies underlying disease progression. The updated criteria allow for the treatment of people who clearly would benefit from therapy and might live longer if treated before significant organ damage occurs. Navigating through the evolving diagnostic and prognostic paradigms in multiple myeloma, this article equips clinicians and researchers with crucial insights for optimizing patient care and advancing future therapeutic approaches.

Radiographic Orofacial Findings of Systemic Diseases

This article discusses the orofacial clinicoradiographic features of systemic diseases that manifest in the orofacial region. The systemic diseases discussed are grouped into the following: autoimmune diseases, endocrine diseases, bone diseases, hematologic diseases, syndromes, and malignancies. The radiographic manifestation ranges from radiolucent bony destruction, increased bone density, calcification, thinning of cortical plate, loss of trabeculation, missing teeth, and supernumerary teeth. It is imperative for clinicians to be cognizant of these findings, as they may be the first manifestation of these systemic diseases.

New diagnostic strategy for multiple myeloma: A review

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most prevalent hematological malignancy and is distinguished by the aberrant proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells inside the bone marrow and production of M-protein. This condition frequently results in bone deterioration, acute kidney damage, anemia, and hypercalcemia. However, the clinical manifestations and accompanying symptoms of MM vary and may change as the condition evolves. Therefore, diagnosis of MM is difficult. At present, the confirmation of MM diagnosis necessitates the use of bone marrow biopsy, a procedure that is both invasive and challenging for assessing dynamic alterations in the disease. The integration of laboratory testing technologies with imaging technology has the potential to enhance the diagnostic effectiveness and provide a thorough evaluation of disease progression and prognosis in patients with MM. All the examination methods have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, diagnosis is determined by the application of clinical characteristics, serological tests, and imaging investigations.

Deep learning-based virtual noncalcium imaging in multiple myeloma using dual-energy CT

BACKGROUND

Dual-energy CT with virtual noncalcium (VNCa) images allows the evaluation of focal intramedullary bone marrow involvement in patients with multiple myeloma. However, current commercial VNCa techniques suffer from excessive image noise and artifacts due to material decomposition used in synthesizing VNCa images.

OBJECTIVES

In this work, we aim to improve VNCa image quality for the assessment of focal multiple myeloma, using an Artificial intelligence based Generalizable Algorithm for mulTi-Energy CT (AGATE) method.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

AGATE method used a custom dual-task convolutional neural network (CNN) that concurrently carries out material classification and quantification. The material classification task provided an auxiliary regularization to the material quantification task. CNN parameters were optimized using custom loss functions that involved cross-entropy, physics-informed constraints, structural redundancy in spectral and material images, and texture information in spectral images. For training data, CT phantoms (diameters 30 to 45 cm) with tissue-mimicking inserts were scanned on a third generation dual-source CT system. Scans were performed at routine dose and half of the routine dose. Small image patches (i.e., 40 × 40 pixels) of tissue-mimicking inserts with known basis material densities were extracted for training samples. Numerically simulated insert materials with various shapes increased diversity of training samples. Generalizability of AGATE was evaluated using CT images from phantoms and patients. In phantoms, material decomposition accuracy was estimated using mean-absolute-percent-error (MAPE), using physical inserts that were not used during the training. Noise power spectrum (NPS) and modulation transfer function (MTF) were compared across phantom sizes and radiation dose levels. Five patients with multiple myeloma underwent dual-energy CT, with VNCa images generated using a commercial method and AGATE. Two fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologists reviewed the VNCa images (commercial and AGATE) side-by-side using a dual-monitor display, blinded to VNCa type, rating the image quality for focal multiple myeloma lesion visualization using a 5-level Likert comparison scale (-2 = worse visualization and diagnostic confidence, -1 = worse visualization but equivalent diagnostic confidence, 0 = equivalent visualization and diagnostic confidence, 1 = improved visualization but equivalent diagnostic confidence, 2 = improved visualization and diagnostic confidence). A post hoc assignment of comparison ratings was performed to rank AGATE images in comparison to commercial ones.

RESULTS

AGATE demonstrated consistent material quantification accuracy across phantom sizes and radiation dose levels, with MAPE ranging from 0.7% to 4.4% across all testing materials. Compared to commercial VNCa images, the AGATE-synthesized VNCa images yielded considerably lower image noise (50-77% noise reduction) without compromising noise texture or spatial resolution across different phantom sizes and two radiation doses. AGATE VNCa images had markedly reduced area under NPS curves and maintained NPS peak frequency (0.7 lp/cm to 1.0 lp/cm), with similar MTF curves (50% MTF at 3.0 lp/cm). In patients, AGATE demonstrated reduced image noise and artifacts with improved delineation of focal multiple myeloma lesions (all readers comparison scores indicating improved overall diagnostic image quality [scores 1 or 2]).

CONCLUSIONS

AGATE demonstrated reduced noise and artifacts in VNCa images and ability to improve visualization of bone marrow lesions for assessing multiple myeloma.

11C-Methionine PET/CT in Assessment of Multiple Myeloma Patients: Comparison to 18F-FDG PET/CT and Prognostic Value

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common haematological malignancy and remains incurable despite therapeutic advances. ¹⁸F-FDG (FDG) PET/CT is a relevant tool MM for staging and it is the reference imaging technique for treatment evaluation. However, it has limitations, and investigation of other PET tracers is required. Preliminary results with L-methyl-[¹¹C]- methionine (MET), suggest higher sensitivity than ¹⁸F-FDG. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value of ¹FDG and MET in MM patients. We prospectively compared FDG and MET PET/CT for assessment of bone disease and extramedullary disease (EMD) in a series of 52 consecutive patients (8 smoldering MM, 18 newly diagnosed MM and 26 relapsed MM patients). Bone marrow (BM) uptake patterns and the detection of focal lesions (FLs) and EMD were compared. Furthermore, FDG PET parameters with known MM prognostic value were explored for both tracers, as well as total lesion MET uptake (TLMU). Median patient age was 61 years (range, 37–83 years), 54% were male, 13% of them were in stage ISS (International Staging System) III, and 31% had high-risk cytogenetics. FDG PET/CT did not detect active disease in 6 patients, while they were shown to be positive by MET PET/CT. Additionally, MET PET/CT identified a higher number of FLs than FDG in more than half of the patients (63%). For prognostication we focussed on the relapsed cohort, due to the low number of progressions in the two other cohorts. Upon using FDG PET/CT in relapsed patients, the presence of more than 3 FLs (HR 4.61, p = 0.056), more than 10 FLs (HR 5.65, p = 0.013), total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) p50 (HR 4.91, p = 0.049) or TMTV p75 (HR 5.32, p = 0.016) were associated with adverse prognosis. In MET PET/CT analysis, TMTV p50 (HR 4.71, p = 0.056), TMTV p75 (HR 6.27, p = 0.007), TLMU p50 (HR 8.8, p = 0.04) and TLMU p75 (HR 6.3, p = 0.007) adversely affected PFS. This study confirmed the diagnostic and prognostic value of FDG in MM. In addition, it highlights that MET has higher sensitivity than FDG PET/CT for detection of myeloma lesions, including FLs. Moreover, we show, for the first time, the prognostic value of TMTV and TLMU MET PET/CT in the imaging evaluation of MM patients.

Case report: Thoracic and lumbar plasma cell myeloma mimicking hemangiomas on MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT

Plasma cell myeloma (PCM) is a malignant clonal disease of abnormal proliferation of plasma cells, which is the second most common hematological malignancy after leukemia. PCM often diffuses and involves the bones of the whole body, especially the spinal column, ribs, skull, pelvis, and other axial bones and flat bones. Herein, we present a 55-year-old man who came to the hospital seeking medical help for low-back pain and numbness in his lower limbs. Computed tomography (CT) was performed because the clinician suspected that the patient had a herniated disc, and the results showed that the 7^th thoracic vertebrae and the 3^rd lumbar vertebrae showed a low density of bone destruction with “honeycombing” changes. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the corresponding lesions presented long T1 and long T2 signals, and the lesions were significantly enhanced in contrast-enhanced T1WI sequences, and fluoro18-labeled deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) showed mild radioactive uptake in the lesions. Based on these imaging findings, the patient was considered for a diagnosis of hemangiomas, and surgery was performed because the affected vertebra was pressing on the spinal cord. However, intraoperative frozen section examination showed that the patient had plasma cell myeloma. Our case study suggests that PCM involving a single thoracic and lumbar spine is rare and should be considered as one of the imaging differential diagnoses of hemangiomas. Moreover, the diagnosis of PCM is difficult when the number of lesions is small, especially when the plasma cell ratio is within the normal reference range in laboratory tests.

X-ray and MRI Correlation of Bone Tumors Using Histopathology As Gold Standard

Introduction

Bone tumors are a common pathology of the musculoskeletal system being frequently encountered by clinicians. Radiological workup is a mainstay in the diagnostic workup of bone tumors. This study aimed to highlight the importance of plain radiography and MRI in the diagnosis of bone tumors keeping histopathology as a gold standard. It is a descriptive validation study conducted in the Radiology Department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad.

Methodology

The study included 92 patients with suspected bone lesions. After taking a complete history and receiving informed written consent. X-rays radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging were performed. X-ray radiograph and magnetic resonance imaging parameters were recorded and compared with the histopathology of lesions as a standard.

Results

The mean age of patients was 30.50 ± 8.95 years. Of 92 patients examined on X-ray, 51 (55.4%) had lytic lesions, 34 (37.0%) had sclerotic lesions, and seven (7.6 %) had mixed lesions. MRI revealed the location of the lesion. There were 25 (27.2%) bone lesions in diaphysis, 19 (20.7%) in metaphysis, nine (9.8%) at meta-diaphysis, and 32 (34.8 %) in the meta-epiphyseal region. These findings were later on confirmed with histopathological results.

Conclusion

MRI can differentiate soft-tissue components and periosteal reactions. An X-ray radiograph can provide information about bony matrix and calcifications within tumors. After analysis of imaging findings and histopathological results, it is concluded that these modalities can be used to diagnose bone tumors with high diagnostic accuracy.

Central Nervous System Myeloma and Unusual Extramedullary Localizations: Real Life Practical Guidance

Central nervous system localization of multiple myeloma (CNS-MM) accounts for about 1% of all MM during disease course or even rarer at diagnosis. A difference in the origin, i.e., osteodural or primary dural vs leptomeningeal/intraparenchymal, seems to define two distinct types of intracranial myeloma, with different clinical behavior. CNS-MM may occur also as a presentation of MM. Treatment is still unsatisfactory and many treatments have been reported: chemotherapy, intrathecal therapy, and radiotherapy, with dismal prognosis. Other sites of myeloma localization could be also of interest and deserve description. Because of the rarity and aggressiveness of the disease clinicians are often doubtful on how to treat it since there is no general agreement. Moreover, recent drugs such as the anti CD38 monoclonal antibody, immunomodulatory drugs, and proteasome inhibitors have changed the treatment of patients with MM with a significant improvement in overall response and survival. The role of novel agents in CNS MM management and unusual presentations will be discussed as well as the potential role of other new immunomodulatory drugs and proteasome inhibitors that seem to cross the blood-brain barrier. The purpose of this review is to increase awareness of the clinical unusual presentation and neuroradiological findings, give practical diagnostic advice and treatment options algorithm.

Mental foramen in panoramic radiography can be a reference for discrimination of punched-out lesions in the mandible in patients with symptomatic multiple myeloma: A cross-sectional study

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematopoietic malignancy characterized by monoclonal proliferation of plasma cells. MM features bony radiolucencies called punched-out lesions (POLs), which require appropriate diagnosis due to increased risk of surgically-related adverse events. Although dental surgeons can identify dental focal infections (DFIs) in MM patients, the prevalence and characteristics of POLs in the jawbone of MM patients have not been investigated. We examined the prevalence of POLs in the mandible of MM patients, evaluated its relationship with MM International Staging System progression, and examined panoramic radiographs as a diagnostic reference for POLs in a single center in Japan. We identified 98 patients (55 men, 43 women) with a median age of 63 (range, 34 to 91) years. Of these, 18 patients (18.4%) had POLs in the mandible, including two patients in stage I (2/37; 5.4%), six in stage II (6/43; 14.0%), and ten in stage III (10/18; 55.6%). The prevalence of POLs significantly increased with MM stage progression (p < 0.0001). POLs confirmed on computed tomography (CT) were also detected on panoramic radiographs. The Hounsfield unit value at the site of POLs was nearly the same or lower than that of the mental foramen. Although the prevalence of POLs in the mandible is low, dental surgeons need to differentiate POLs as radiological findings when examining DFIs in MM patients. Confirmation of POLs in the mandible is possible by CT and panoramic radiography, and the mental foramen is likely to be a reference for discrimination.

Role of FDG PET in the staging of multiple myeloma

¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET has been used for staging of hematologic malignancies for years. In multiple myeloma, this imaging modality can be used in many different scenarios, including initial staging, evaluation of treatment response, and investigation of residual disease or early relapse. FDG PET-CT has excellent diagnostic performance, similar to other advanced imaging modalities such as whole-body CT and MRI, and it is particularly helpful for the assessment of extramedullary disease. It also offers important prognostic information on survival and risk of relapse, both at baseline and after therapy. This review will cover the main applications, advantages, and limitations of FDG PET-CT in multiple myeloma and related clonal plasma cell proliferative disorders, such as smoldering multiple myeloma and plasmacytoma.

MRI-Based Bone Marrow Radiomics Nomogram for Prediction of Overall Survival in Patients With Multiple Myeloma

Purpose

To develop and validate a radiomics nomogram for predicting overall survival (OS) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

Material and Methods

A total of 121 MM patients was enrolled and divided into training (n=84) and validation (n=37) sets. The radiomics signature was established by the selected radiomics features from lumbar MRI. The radiomics signature and clinical risk factors were integrated in multivariate Cox regression model for constructing radiomics nomogram to predict MM OS. The predictive ability and accuracy of the nomogram were evaluated by the index of concordance (C-index) and calibration curves, and compared with other four models including the clinical model, radiomics signature model, the Durie-Salmon staging system (D-S) and the International Staging System (ISS). The potential association between the radiomics signature and progression-free survival (PFS) was also explored.

Results

The radiomics signature, 1q21 gain, del (17p), and β2-MG≥5.5 mg/L showed significant association with MM OS. The predictive ability of radiomics nomogram was better than the clinical model, radiomics signature model, the D-S and the ISS (C-index: 0.793 vs. 0.733 vs. 0.742 vs. 0.554 vs. 0.671 in training set, and 0.812 vs. 0.799 vs.0.717 vs. 0.512 vs. 0.761 in validation set). The radiomics signature lacked the predictive ability for PFS (log-rank P=0.001 in training set and log-rank P=0.103 in validation set), whereas the 1-, 2- and 3-year PFS rates all showed significant difference between the high and low risk groups (P ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion

The MRI-based bone marrow radiomics may be an additional useful tool for MM OS prediction.

The prognostic significance of [18F]FDG PET/CT in multiple myeloma according to novel interpretation criteria (IMPeTUs)

PURPOSE

[¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT is the elective imaging modality for treatment monitoring in multiple myeloma (MM). However, MM is a heterogeneous disease from an imaging point of view, raising challenges in interpretation of PET/CT. We herein investigated the prognostic role of the novel Italian Myeloma criteria for PET Use (IMPeTUs) in MM patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy (HDT) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).

METHODS

Forty-seven patients with newly diagnosed MM underwent [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT before commencement of treatment (baseline PET/CT). Thirty-four of them (72.3%) were also examined after completion of ASCT (follow-up PET/CT). PET/CT analysis was based on the IMPeTUs criteria, which take into consideration-among others-the metabolic state of the bone marrow based on the 5-point Deauville score (DS), the number and metabolic state of focal [¹⁸F]FDG-avid lesions, as well as the presence of paramedullary disease (PMD) and extramedullary disease (EMD). We analyzed whether parameters from IMPeTUs correlate with clinically relevant parameters and patients' outcome, as assessed by progression-free survival (PFS).

RESULTS

Median follow-up from baseline and follow-up PET/CT were 85.1 months and 76.7 months, respectively. The number of focal, [¹⁸F]FDG-avid lesions significantly correlated with the bone marrow infiltration rate and the R-ISS stage, while the presence of PMD was associated with LDH. After univariate survival analysis, the number of focal, [¹⁸F]FDG-avid lesions both before and after therapy as well as the presence of PMD and EMD before therapy adversely affected PFS. Multivariate survival analysis for baseline parameters confirmed that the number of focal, [¹⁸F]FDG-avid lesions and the presence of EMD are associated with adverse prognosis, irrespective of the ISS stage and/or the presence of high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities. The 5-point DS of [¹⁸F]FDG uptake in reference bone marrow and focal lesions showed a significant decrease as response to treatment, but it did not affect PFS.

CONCLUSION

Several parameters utilized in IMPeTUs predict PFS in MM patients, suggesting the potentially significant role of the new criteria in patient stratification and response assessment. Additional studies are warranted for the further evaluation of IMPeTUs in the direction of establishment of robust cut-off values with a prognostic significance in the disease.

Learning curves in radiological reporting of whole-body MRI in plasma cell disease: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

The plasma cell disease is been studying by the whole-body MRI technology. However, the time requested to learn this radiological technique is unknown.

PURPOSE

To esteem, quantitatively and qualitatively, the essential time to learn the whole-body MRI diffusion-weighted imaging with background body signal suppression in patients with plasma cell disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between January 2015 and February 2017, three readers in-training with different levels of experience examined the anonymised and randomised whole-body MRI images of 52 patients with a diagnosis of plasma cell disease and analysed their morphological (T1w, T2w with and without fat suppression) and functional sequences. Reports of an expert radiologist were considered the standard of reference. Images were analysed in two sessions, during which each reader was timed. Readers reported the number of segments with lesions and staged the disease using the Durie-Salmon PLUS staging system. Weighted Cohen's ĸ and Z-test were used to compare the trainees' reports with those of the expert radiologist, and learning curves were drawn up to show changes between the two sessions.

RESULTS

Weighted Cohen's ĸ of number of lesioned segments increased from 0.536 ± 0.123 to 0.831 ± 0.129 (Prob > Z under 0.005), thus approaching the goal of ĸ > 0.8. Trainees reached the level of experienced radiologist in terms of time by the 33rd patient. Agreement concerning the Durie-Salmon PLUS increased from 0.536 ± 0.123 to 0.831 ± 0.129 (Prob > Z under 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study demonstrate that whole-body MRI with DWIBS can be learned in about 80 reports and leads to a high level of inter-observer concordance when using the Durie-Salmon PLUS staging system.

Expert review on soft-tissue plasmacytomas in multiple myeloma: definition, disease assessment and treatment considerations

In this review, two types of soft-tissue involvement in multiple myeloma are defined: (i) extramedullary (EMD) with haematogenous spread involving only soft tissues and (ii) paraskeletal (PS) with tumour masses arising from skeletal lesions. The incidence of EMD and PS plasmacytomas at diagnosis ranges from 1·7% to 4·5% and 7% to 34·4% respectively. EMD disease is often associated with high-risk cytogenetics, resistance to therapy and worse prognosis than in PS involvement. In patients with PS involvement a proteasome inhibitor-based regimen may be the best option followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in transplant eligible patients. In patients with EMD disease who are not eligible for ASCT, a proteasome inhibitor-based regimen such as lenalidomide-bortezomib-dexamethasone (RVD) may be the best option, while for those eligible for high-dose therapy a myeloma/lymphoma-like regimen such as bortezomib, thalidomide and dexamethasone (VTD)-RVD/cisplatin, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and etoposide (PACE) followed by SCT should be considered. In both EMD and PS disease at relapse many strategies have been tried, but this remains a high-unmet need population.

Development of [89Zr]DFO-elotuzumab for immunoPET imaging of CS1 in multiple myeloma

PURPOSE

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a bone marrow malignancy that remains mostly incurable. Elotuzumab is an FDA-approved therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeted to the cell surface glycoprotein CS1, which is overexpressed in MM cells. Identifying patients who will respond to CS1-targeted treatments such as elotuzumab requires the development of a companion diagnostic to assess the presence of CS1. Here, we evaluated [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab as a novel PET tracer for imaging CS1 expression in preclinical MM models.

METHODS

Conjugation of desferrioxamine-p-benzyl-isothiocyanate (DFO-Bz-NCS) to elotuzumab enabled zirconium-89 radiolabeling. MM.1S-CG cells were intravenously injected in NOD SCID gamma (NSG) mice. Small animal PET imaging with [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab (1.11 MBq/mouse, 7 days post-injection), [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-IgG (1.11 MBq/mouse, 7 days post-injection), and [¹⁸F]FDG (7-8 MBq, 1 h post-injection) was performed. Additionally, biodistribution of [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab post-imaging at 7 days was also done. In vivo specificity of [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab was further evaluated with a blocking study and ex vivo autoradiography.

RESULTS

[⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab was produced with high specific activity (56 ± 0.75 MBq/nmol), radiochemical purity (99% ± 0.5), and yield (93.3% ± 1.5). Dissociation constant of 40.4 nM and receptor density of 126 fmol/mg was determined in MM.1S-CG cells. Compared to [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-IgG, [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab localized with a significantly higher standard uptake value in tumor-bearing bone tissue (8.59 versus 4.77). Blocking with unlabeled elotuzumab significantly reduced (P < 0.05) uptake of [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab in the bones. Importantly, while [¹⁸F]FDG demonstrated similar uptake in the bone and muscle, [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab showed > 3-fold enhanced uptake in bones.

CONCLUSION

These data demonstrate the feasibility of [⁸⁹Zr]DFO-elotuzumab as a companion diagnostic for CS1-targeted therapies.

Paradoxical Stress Fracture in a Patient With Multiple Myeloma and Bisphosphonate Use

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell disorder with related organ dysfunction, including hypercalcemia, renal insufficiency, anemia, and bone disease. Osteolytic bone lesions that result in pain and pathologic fractures are a major source of morbidity and the use of bisphosphonates is generally safe and effective treatment in reducing myeloma-related skeletal fractures and associated morbidity. We present a 73-year-old African American woman with MM in remission and on intravenous (IV) bisphosphonate therapy in the past five years who reported gradually worsening bilateral thigh pain of six months duration. A bone survey showed no neoplastic focus, and bilateral hip X-rays showed incomplete insufficiency stress fractures with characteristic features suspicious for bisphosphonate-related atypical femoral fracture (AFF). Increasingly reported in the literature, bilateral AFF is a unique and serious adverse effect for patients on bisphosphonates. Our case illustrates the distinct challenges in managing a patient with MM on long-term bisphosphonate therapy who suffered bilateral atypical femoral fractures, an uncommon presentation of a relatively rare phenomenon. It is important to balance the established benefits of bisphosphonate therapy with potential fracture risk and be particularly vigilant about adverse effect monitoring and timely intervention.

Can 18F-NaF PET/CT before Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Predict Survival in Multiple Myeloma?

There is an unmet need for positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers that can image bone disease in multiple myeloma (MM) in a more sensitive and specific way than the widely used ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG). Sodium fluoride (¹⁸F-NaF) is a highly sensitive tracer of bone reconstruction, evolving as an important imaging agent for the assessment of malignant bone diseases. We attempted to investigate for the first time the prognostic significance of ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT in newly diagnosed, symptomatic MM patients planned for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Forty-seven patients underwent dynamic and static PET/CT with ¹⁸F-NaF before treatment. After correlation with the respective findings on CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT that served as reference, the ¹⁸F-NaF PET findings were compared with established factors of high-risk disease, like cytogenetic abnormalities as well as bone marrow plasma cell infiltration rate. Furthermore, the impact of ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT on progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate, significant correlation of the ¹⁸F-NaF parameters SUV_average and K₁ in reference tissue with bone marrow plasma cell infiltration rate. However, no significant correlation was observed regarding all other ¹⁸F-NaF PET parameters. Survival analysis revealed that patients with a pathologic ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT have a shorter PFS (median = 36.2 months) than those with a physiologic scan (median = 55.6 months) (p = 0.02). Nevertheless, no quantitative ¹⁸F-NaF parameter could be shown to adversely affect PFS. In contrast, the respective analysis for quantitative dynamic ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT revealed that the parameters SUV_max, fractional blood volume (V_B), k₃ and influx from reference tissue as well as SUV_average from MM lesions had a significant negative impact on patient survival. The herein presented findings highlight the rather limited role of ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT as a single PET approach in MM.

Clinical Applications and Future Directions of Minimal Residual Disease Testing in Multiple Myeloma

In the last years, the life expectancy of multiple myeloma (MM) patients has substantially improved thanks to the availability of many new drugs. Our ability to induce deep responses has improved as well, and the treatment goal in patients tolerating treatment moved from the delay of progression to the induction of the deepest possible response. As a result of these advances, a great scientific effort has been made to redefine response monitoring, resulting in the development and validation of high-sensitivity techniques to detect minimal residual disease (MRD). In 2016, the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) updated MM response categories defining MRD-negative responses both in the bone marrow (assessed by next-generation flow cytometry or next-generation sequencing) and outside the bone marrow. MRD is an important factor independently predicting prognosis during MM treatment. Moreover, using novel combination therapies, MRD-negative status can be achieved in a fairly high percentage of patients. However, many questions regarding the clinical use of MRD status remain unanswered. MRD monitoring can guide treatment intensity, although well-designed clinical trials are needed to demonstrate this potential. This mini-review will focus on currently available techniques and data on MRD testing and their potential future applications.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Radiopharmaceuticals in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell disorder, characterized by clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow. Bone disease is the most frequent feature and an end-organ defining indicator of MM. In this context, imaging plays a pivotal role in the management of the malignancy. For several decades whole-body X-ray survey (WBXR) has been applied for the diagnosis and staging of bone disease in MM. However, the serious drawbacks of WBXR have led to its gradual replacement from novel imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). PET/CT, with the tracer ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG), is now considered a powerful diagnostic tool for the detection of medullary and extramedullary disease at the time of diagnosis, a reliable predictor of survival as well as the most robust modality for treatment response evaluation in MM. On the other hand, ¹⁸F-FDG carries its own limitations as a radiopharmaceutical, including a rather poor sensitivity for the detection of diffuse bone marrow infiltration, a relatively low specificity, and the lack of widely applied, established criteria for image interpretation. This has led to the development of several alternative PET tracers, some of which with promising results regarding MM detection. The aim of this review article is to outline the major applications of PET/CT with different radiopharmaceuticals in the clinical practice of MM.

A Retrospective Analysis: A Novel Index Predicts Survival and Risk-Stratification for Bone Destruction in 419 Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myelomas

Objective

Multiple myeloma (MM) patients with bone destruction are difficult to restore, so it is of great clinical significance to further explore the factors affecting MM bone destruction.

Methods and results

This study retrospectively analyzed 419 cases with MM. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that those MM patients with a higher concentration of Ca²⁺ in serum, higher positive rate of CD138 immuno-phenotype and advanced in stage with 13q34 deletion in cytogenetics would be more prone to bone destruction, while total bile acid (TBA) and kappa chain isotope negatively correlated with bone destruction in MM patients. The Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that Ca²⁺, serum β2-microglobulin (β2-MG), hemoglobin (HGB), creatinine (CREA), uric acid (UA) and age correlated with the survival of bone destruction in MM patients. Cox regression analysis further showed that the independent prognostic factors of β2-MG and CREA had a higher risk for early mortality in bone destruction patients. Moreover, an index was calculated based on β2-MG and globulin (GLB) to white blood cell (WBC) ratio to predict the poor survival of bone destruction patients.

Conclusion

We provide a novel marker to predict the prognosis of myeloma patients using routine examination method instead of bone marrow aspiration, and provide a reference for clinical evaluation.

18F-fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine (18F-FET) PET/CT as a potential new diagnostic tool in multiple myeloma: a preliminary study

Aim of the study

The aim of this study was to analyse the diagnostic accuracy of ^“18F-fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine (¹⁸F-FET) PET/CT tracer in multiple myeloma.

Material and methods

The analysed group included: patients with newly diagnosed active myeloma (eight patients); in very good partial remission or complete remission (VGPR or CR) after treatment (nine patients); and with active disease after relapse (15 patients).

Results

In patients with newly diagnosed myeloma, 64 lesions were found using CT and 83 lesions using ¹⁸F-FET. In six patients, the number of lesions using CT and ¹⁸F-FET was the same, and two had more lesions with the ¹⁸F-FET than with the CT. Patients in VGPR or CR had no FET-positive lesions. Fourteen out of 15 patients with active relapsed myeloma had 47 FET-positive lesions, CT assessment of the same group showed 282 lesions. In one patient with relapse soft tissue mass was found with ¹⁸F-FET but not with CT.

Conclusions

¹⁸F-FET can be a promising alternative to ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT for myeloma-related bone disease diagnosis.

Imaging of Malignant Primitive Tumors of the Spine

Primary malignant tumors of the spine are rare and mainly include chordoma, chondrosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma or primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and osteosarcoma. The final diagnosis is based on the combination of patient age, topographic and histologic features of the tumor, and lesion pattern on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Imaging evaluation includes radiography, CT, bone scintigraphy, and MR imaging. CT is more useful than radiography for evaluating location of the lesion and analyzing bone destruction and matrix, whereas MR has unmatched ability to assess soft tissue extension. This pictorial review provides an overview of the most prevalent primitive malignant tumors of spine.

Assessment of glucose metabolism and cellular proliferation in multiple myeloma: a first report on combined 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT PET/CT imaging

Background

Despite the significant upgrading in recent years of the role of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in multiple myeloma (MM) diagnostics, there is a still unmet need for myeloma-specific radiotracers. 3′-Deoxy-3′-[¹⁸F]fluorothymidine (¹⁸F-FLT) is the most studied cellular proliferation PET agent, considered a potentially new myeloma functional imaging tracer. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate ¹⁸F-FLT PET/CT in imaging of MM patients, in the context of its combined use with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT.

Results

Eight patients, four suffering from symptomatic MM and four suffering from smoldering MM (SMM), were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and ¹⁸F-FLT PET/CT imaging by means of static (whole body) and dynamic PET/CT of the lower abdomen and pelvis (dPET/CT) in two consecutive days. The evaluation of PET/CT studies was based on qualitative evaluation, semi-quantitative (SUV) calculation, and quantitative analysis based on two-tissue compartment modeling. ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT demonstrated focal, ¹⁸F-FDG avid, MM-indicative bone marrow lesions in five patients. In contrary, ¹⁸F-FLT PET/CT showed focal, ¹⁸F-FLT avid, myeloma-indicative lesions in only two patients. In total, 48 ¹⁸F-FDG avid, focal, MM-indicative lesions were detected with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, while 17 ¹⁸F-FLT avid, focal, MM-indicative lesions were detected with ¹⁸F-FLT PET/CT. The number of myeloma-indicative lesions was significantly higher for ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT than for ¹⁸F-FLT PET/CT. A common finding was a mismatch of focally increased ¹⁸F-FDG uptake and reduced ¹⁸F-FLT uptake (lower than the surrounding bone marrow). Moreover, ¹⁸F-FLT PET/CT was characterized by high background activity in the bone marrow compartment, further complicating the evaluation of bone marrow lesions. Semi-quantitative evaluation revealed that both SUV_mean and SUV_max were significantly higher for ¹⁸F-FLT than for ¹⁸F-FDG in both MM lesions and reference tissue. SUV values were higher in MM lesions than in reference bone marrow for both tracers.

Conclusions

Despite the limited number of patients analyzed in this pilot study, the first results of the trial indicate that ¹⁸F-FLT does not seem suitable as a single tracer in MM diagnostics. Further studies with a larger patient population are warranted to generalize the herein presented results.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13550-018-0383-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Prognostic Value of Baseline 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in Patients with Multiple Myeloma: A Multicenter Cohort Study

Objective

We investigated the prognostic value of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

Materials and Methods

Subjects were 76 patients with newly diagnosed myeloma and pretreatment with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT from four hospitals. The PET/CT features were evaluated and the clinical characteristics were reviewed. Prognostic factors related to poor progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were identified using a Cox proportional hazards regression model and a prediction scale was developed based on the identified factors.

Results

Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of ¹⁸F-FDG-avid focal bone lesions (≥ 3) was a significant and independent predictor of PFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.28, p = 0.007) and OS (HR = 11.78, p = 0.001). The presence of extramedullary disease on PET/CT scan was also a significant predictor of poor PFS (HR = 2.79, p = 0.006) and OS (HR = 3.89, p = 0.003). A prognostic scale was developed using these two predictors. An increase in score on the scale corresponded to a significantly increased risk of poor OS (p = 0.005). In addition, Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patient survival varied significantly according to the scale (p < 0.001 for OS and p = 0.001 for PFS).

Conclusion

¹⁸F-FDG-avid focal lesions and the presence of extramedullary disease on PET/CT scan are significantly associated with poor OS in MM patients. The scale developed according to these predictors represents a potential prognostic tool for evaluation of patients with MM.

Minimal residual disease after transplantation or lenalidomide-based consolidation in myeloma patients: a prospective analysis

We analyzed 50 patients who achieved at least a very good partial response in the RV-MM-EMN-441 study. Patients received consolidation with autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) or cyclophosphamide-lenalidomide-dexamethasone (CRD), followed by Lenalidomide-based maintenance. We assessed minimal residual disease (MRD) by multi-parameter flow cytometry (MFC) and allelic-specific oligonucleotide real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (ASO-RQ-PCR) after consolidation, after 3 and 6 courses of maintenance, and thereafter every 6 months until progression. By MFC analysis, 19/50 patients achieved complete response (CR) after consolidation, and 7 additional patients during maintenance. A molecular marker was identified in 25/50 patients, 4/25 achieved molecular-CR after consolidation, and 3 additional patients during maintenance. A lower MRD value by MFC was found in ASCT patients compared with CRD patients (p=0.0134). Tumor burden reduction was different in patients with high-risk vs standard-risk cytogenetics (3.4 vs 5.2, ln-MFC; 3 vs 6 ln-PCR, respectively) and in patients who relapsed vs those who did not (4 vs 5, ln-MFC; 4.4 vs 7.8 ln-PCR). MRD progression anticipated clinical relapse by a median of 9 months while biochemical relapse by a median of 4 months. MRD allows the identification of a low-risk group, independently of response, and a better characterization of the activity of treatments.

PET/MRI: Where might it replace PET/CT?

Simultaneous positron emission tomography and MRI (PET/MRI) is a technology that combines the anatomic and quantitative strengths of MR imaging with physiologic information obtained from PET. PET and computed tomography (PET/CT) performed in a single scanning session is an established technology already in widespread and accepted use worldwide. Given the higher cost and complexity of operating and interpreting the studies obtained on a PET/MRI system, there has been question as to which patients would benefit most from imaging with PET/MRI versus PET/CT. In this article, we compare PET/MRI with PET/CT, detail the applications for which PET/MRI has shown promise and discuss impediments to future adoption. It is our hope that future work will prove the benefit of PET/MRI to specific groups of patients, initially those in which PET/CT and MRI are already performed, leveraging simultaneity and allowing for greater degrees of multiparametric evaluation.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

5 Technical Efficacy: Stage 5 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1247-1262.

The Critical Role of Imaging in the Management of Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by abnormal proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow leading to symptoms of anemia, renal failure, hypercalcemia, and bone lesions. Bone imaging is critical for the diagnosis, staging, assessment for the presence and extent of bone lesions, and initial treatment of MM. Skeletal survey is the preferred initial imaging modality due to its availability and low cost. However, it has poor sensitivity and patients with occult myeloma may escape detection, delaying their diagnosis and treatment. New cross-sectional imaging modalities such as low-dose whole body CT, MRI, and PET-CT have high sensitivity and specificity for detecting lytic lesions and extramedullary relapse in MM. The combined use of cross-sectional imaging may provide complimentary information for staging, prognosis, and disease monitoring. In this review, we will discuss commonly used imaging modalities and their advantages and disadvantages in the management of MM.

Non-Secretory Myeloma: Ready for a new Definition?

Non-secretory myeloma is a rare myeloma subtype whose diagnosis, until a few years ago, was established by demonstration of monoclonal plasma cells ≥10% in the bone marrow and by negative results on serum and urine electrophoresis and immunofixation studies. However, this type of myeloma could be misdiagnosed if the workup does not include an accurate study of serum free light chain test since some of the patients diagnosed as non-secretory could be light chain only with small amounts monoclonal proteinuria. Due to this limit in classification, all the information available today, generally coming from retrospective studies including patients studied completely and incompletely, could be misleading. A new definition is, thus, needed to distinguish between the true non-secretory, with a possible better prognosis, and the other forms of oligo-secretory myeloma with a prognosis more similar to the secretory form of myeloma. With all the data of the literature, the availability of laboratory and radiological tools, times are mature to depict a new definition of nonsecretory myeloma that deserves a peculiar work up and different response evaluation and, may be, a different therapeutic approach.

Diagnostic utility of whole body Dixon MRI in multiple myeloma: A multi-reader study

OBJECTIVE

To determine which of four Dixon image types [in-phase (IP), out-of-phase (OP), fat only (FO) and water-only (WO)] is most sensitive for detecting multiple myeloma (MM) focal lesions on whole body MRI (WB-MRI) images.

METHODS

Thirty patients with clinically-suspected MM underwent WB-MRI at 3 Tesla. Unenhanced IP, OP, FO and WO Dixon images were generated and read by four radiologists. On each image type, each radiologist identified and labelled all visible myeloma lesions in the bony pelvis. Each identified lesion was compared with a reference standard consisting of pre- and post-contrast Dixon and diffusion weighted imaging (read by a further consultant radiologist) to determine whether the lesion was truly positive. Lesion count, true positives, sensitivity, and positive predictive value were compared across the four Dixon image types.

RESULTS

Lesion count, true positives, sensitivity and confidence scores were all significantly higher on FO images than on IP images (p>0.05).

DISCUSSION

FO images are more sensitive than other Dixon image types for MM focal lesions, and should be preferentially read by radiologists to improve diagnostic accuracy and reporting efficiency.

Multiple myeloma of the spine

Radiology provides a crucial clinical adjunct in patients with plasma cell disorders, in particular multiple myeloma, and its uses are evolving and expanding. This pictorial review illustrates the role of imaging throughout the patient's clinical course, with specific reference to recently updated international diagnostic criteria. At presentation, imaging optimises characterisation and staging of the plasma-cell disorder, while later in the course of the disease, its roles include the monitoring of disease progression, assessment of post-treatment response and the investigation of clinical deterioration.

Treatment response evaluation with 18F-FDG PET/CT and 18F-NaF PET/CT in multiple myeloma patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation

AIM

The aim of this study was to assess the combined use of the radiotracers ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-NaF in treatment response evaluation of a group of multiple myeloma (MM) patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy (HDT) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) by means of static (whole-body) and dynamic PET/CT (dPET/CT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Thirty-four patients with primary, previously untreated MM scheduled for treatment with HDT followed by ASCT were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent PET/CT scanning with ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-NaF before and after therapy. Treatment response by means of PET/CT was assessed according to the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 1999 criteria. The evaluation of dPET/CT studies was based on qualitative evaluation, semi-quantitative (SUV) calculation, and quantitative analysis based on two-tissue compartment modelling and a non-compartmental approach leading to the extraction of fractal dimension (FD).

RESULTS

An analysis was possible in 29 patients: three with clinical complete response (CR) and 26 with non-CR (13 patients near complete response-nCR, four patients very good partial response-VGPR, nine patients partial response-PR). After treatment, ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT was negative in 14/29 patients and positive in 15/29 patients, showing a sensitivity of 57.5 % and a specificity of 100 %. According to the EORTC 1999 criteria, ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT-based treatment response revealed CR in 14 patients (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT CR), PR in 11 patients (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT PR) and progressive disease in four patients (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT PD). In terms of ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT, 4/29 patients (13.8 %) had a negative baseline scan, thus failed to depict MM. Regarding the patients for which a direct lesion-to-lesion comparison was feasible, ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT depicted 56 of the 129 ¹⁸F-FDG positive lesions (43 %). Follow-up ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT showed persistence of 81.5 % of the baseline ¹⁸F-NaF positive MM lesions after treatment, despite the fact that 64.7 % of them had turned to ¹⁸F-FDG negative. Treatment response according to ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT revealed CR in one patient (¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT CR), PR in five patients (¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT PR), SD in 12 patients (¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT SD), and PD in seven patients (¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT PD). Dynamic ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT studies showed that SUV_average, SUV_max, as well as the kinetic parameters K₁, influx and FD from reference bone marrow and skeleton responded to therapy with a significant decrease (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

F-FDG PET/CT demonstrated a sensitivity of 57.7 % and a specificity of 100 % in treatment response evaluation of MM. Despite its limited sensitivity, the performance of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT was satisfactory, given that 6/9 false negative patients in follow-up scans (66.7 %) were clinically characterized as nCR, a disease stage with very low tumor mass. On the other hand, ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT does not seem to add significantly to ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in treatment response evaluation of MM patients undergoing HDT and ASCT, at least shortly after therapy.

Osteolytica: An automated image analysis software package that rapidly measures cancer-induced osteolytic lesions in in vivo models with greater reproducibility compared to other commonly used methods

Methods currently used to analyse osteolytic lesions caused by malignancies such as multiple myeloma and metastatic breast cancer vary from basic 2-D X-ray analysis to 2-D images of micro-CT datasets analysed with non-specialised image software such as ImageJ. However, these methods have significant limitations. They do not capture 3-D data, they are time-consuming and they often suffer from inter-user variability. We therefore sought to develop a rapid and reproducible method to analyse 3-D osteolytic lesions in mice with cancer-induced bone disease. To this end, we have developed Osteolytica, an image analysis software method featuring an easy to use, step-by-step interface to measure lytic bone lesions. Osteolytica utilises novel graphics card acceleration (parallel computing) and 3-D rendering to provide rapid reconstruction and analysis of osteolytic lesions. To evaluate the use of Osteolytica we analysed tibial micro-CT datasets from murine models of cancer-induced bone disease and compared the results to those obtained using a standard ImageJ analysis method. Firstly, to assess inter-user variability we deployed four independent researchers to analyse tibial datasets from the U266-NSG murine model of myeloma. Using ImageJ, inter-user variability between the bones was substantial (±19.6%), in contrast to using Osteolytica, which demonstrated minimal variability (±0.5%). Secondly, tibial datasets from U266-bearing NSG mice or BALB/c mice injected with the metastatic breast cancer cell line 4T1 were compared to tibial datasets from aged and sex-matched non-tumour control mice. Analyses by both Osteolytica and ImageJ showed significant increases in bone lesion area in tumour-bearing mice compared to control mice. These results confirm that Osteolytica performs as well as the current 2-D ImageJ osteolytic lesion analysis method. However, Osteolytica is advantageous in that it analyses over the entirety of the bone volume (as opposed to selected 2-D images), it is a more rapid method and it has less user variability.

Multiple Myeloma, Version 2.2016: Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant neoplasm of plasma cells that accumulate in bone marrow, leading to bone destruction and marrow failure. Recent statistics from the American Cancer Society indicate that the incidence of MM is increasing. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) included in this issue address management of patients with solitary plasmacytoma and newly diagnosed MM.

Osteolytic lesions, cytogenetic features and bone marrow levels of cytokines and chemokines in multiple myeloma patients: Role of chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 20

The relationship between bone marrow (BM) cytokine and chemokine levels, cytogenetic profiles and skeletal involvement in multiple myeloma (MM) patients is not yet defined. This study investigated a cohort of 455 patients including monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS), smoldering MM and symptomatic MM patients. Skeletal surveys, positron emission tomography (PET)/computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to identify myeloma bone disease. Significantly higher median BM levels of both C-C motif Ligand (CCL)3 and CCL20 were found in MM patients with radiographic evidence of osteolytic lesions as compared with those without, and in all MM patients with positive PET/CT scans. BM levels of CCL3, CCL20, Activin-A and Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) were significantly higher in patients with high bone disease as compared with patients with low bone disease. Moreover, CCL20 BM levels were significant predictors of osteolysis on X-rays by multivariate logistic analysis. On the other hand, DKK-1 levels were related to the presence of MRI lesions independently of the osteolysis at the X-rays. Our data define the relationship between bone disease and the BM cytokine and chemokine patterns highlighting the tight relationship between CCL20 BM levels and osteolysis in MM.

Assessing myeloma bone disease with whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging: comparison with x-ray skeletal survey by region and relationship with laboratory estimates of disease burden

AIM

To estimate and compare the extent of myeloma bone disease by skeletal region using whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging (WB-DWI) and skeletal survey (SS) and record interobserver agreement, and to investigate differences in imaging assessments of disease extent and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between patients with pathological high versus low disease burden.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty patients with relapsed myeloma underwent WB-DWI and SS. Lesions were scored by number and size for each skeletal region by two independent observers using WB-DWI and SS. Observer scores, ADC, and ADC-defined volume of tumour-infiltrated marrow were compared between patients with high and low disease burden (assessed by serum paraproteins and marrow biopsy).

RESULTS

Observer scores were higher on WB-DWI than SS in every region (p<0.05) except the skull, with greater interobserver reliability in rating the whole skeleton (WB-DWI: ICC = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.443-0.886; SS: ICC = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.002-0.730) and individual body regions. WB-DWI scores were not significantly higher in patients with high versus low disease burden (observer 1: mean ± SD: 48.8 ± 7, 38.6 ± 14.5, observer 2: mean ± SD: 37.3 ± 13.5, 30.4 ± 15.5; p = 0.06, p = 0.35).

CONCLUSION

WB-DWI demonstrated more lesions than SS in all regions except the skull with greater interobserver agreement. Sensitivity is not a limiting factor when considering WB-DWI in the management pathway of patients with myeloma.

New criteria for response assessment: role of minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma

Assessment of minimal residual disease (MRD) is becoming standard diagnostic care for potentially curable neoplasms such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In multiple myeloma (MM), the majority of patients will inevitably relapse despite achievement of progressively higher complete remission (CR) rates. Novel treatment protocols with inclusion of antibodies and small molecules might well be able to further increase remission rates and potentially also cure rates. Therefore, MRD diagnostics becomes essential to assess treatment effectiveness. This review summarizes reports from the past 2 decades, which demonstrate that persistent MRD by multiparameter flow cytometry, polymerase chain reaction, next-generation sequencing, and positron emission tomography/computed tomography, predicts significantly inferior survival among CR patients. We describe the specific features of currently available techniques for MRD monitoring and outline the arguments favoring new criteria for response assessment that incorporate MRD levels. Extensive data indicate that MRD information can potentially be used as biomarker to evaluate the efficacy of different treatment strategies, help on treatment decisions, and act as surrogate for overall survival. The time has come to address within clinical trials the exact role of baseline risk factors and MRD monitoring for tailored therapy in MM, which implies systematic usage of highly sensitive, cost-effective, readily available, and standardized MRD techniques.

Identification of proteins found to be significantly altered when comparing the serum proteome from Multiple Myeloma patients with varying degrees of bone disease

Background

Bone destruction is a feature of multiple myeloma, characterised by osteolytic bone destruction due to increased osteoclast activity and suppressed or absent osteoblast activity. Almost all multiple myeloma patients develop osteolytic bone lesions associated with severe and debilitating bone pain, pathologic fractures, hypercalcemia, and spinal cord compression, as well as increased mortality. Biomarkers of bone remodelling are used to identify disease characteristics that can help select the optimal management of patients. However, more accurate biomarkers are needed to effectively mirror the dynamics of bone disease activity.

Results

A label-free mass spectrometry-based strategy was employed for discovery phase analysis of fractionated patient serum samples associated with no or high bone disease. A number of proteins were identified which were statistically significantly correlated with bone disease, including enzymes, extracellular matrix glycoproteins, and components of the complement system.

Conclusions

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of complement C4 and serum paraoxonase/arylesterase 1 indicated that these proteins were associated with high bone disease in a larger independent cohort of patient samples. These biomolecules may therefore be clinically useful in assessing the extent of bone disease.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-904) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Imaging of multiple myeloma: Current concepts

Medical imaging is of crucial importance for diagnosis and initial staging as well as for differentiation of multiple myeloma (MM) from other monoclonal plasma cell diseases. Conventional radiography represents the reference standard for diagnosis of MM due to its wide availability and low costs despite its known limitations such as low sensitivity, limited specificity and its inability to detect extraosseous lesions. Besides conventional radiography, newer cross-sectional imaging modalities such as whole-body low-dose computed tomography (CT), whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT are available for the diagnosis of osseous and extraosseous manifestations of MM. Whole-body low-dose CT is used increasingly, replacing conventional radiography at selected centers, due to its higher sensitivity for the detection of osseous lesions and its ability to diagnose extraosseous lesions. The highest sensitivity for both detection of bone marrow disease and extraosseous lesions can be achieved with whole-body MRI and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT. According to current evidence, MRI is the most sensitive method for initial staging while ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT allows monitoring of treatment of MM. There is an evolving role for assessment of treatment response using newer MR imaging techniques. Future studies are needed to further define the exact role of the different imaging modalities for individual risk stratification and therapy monitoring.

The role of positron emission tomography-computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis and follow up of multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematologic malignancy and occurs most commonly in elderly patients. Almost all multiple myeloma patients develop bone lesions in the course of their disease or have evidence of bone loss at initial diagnosis. Whole-body conventional radiography remains the gold standard in the diagnostic evaluation, but computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography are increasingly used as complementary techniques in the detection of bone lesions. Moreover, the number of lesions detected and the presence of extramedullary disease give strong prognostic information. These new techniques may help to assess treatment response in solitary plasmacytoma or in multiple myeloma. In this article, we review recent data on the different imaging techniques used at diagnosis and in the assessment of treatment response, and discuss some current issues.

(18)F-FDG-PET/CT imaging in an IL-6- and MYC-driven mouse model of human multiple myeloma affords objective evaluation of plasma cell tumor progression and therapeutic response to the proteasome inhibitor ixazomib

(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and computed tomography (CT) are useful imaging modalities for evaluating tumor progression and treatment responses in genetically engineered mouse models of solid human cancers, but the potential of integrated FDG-PET/CT for assessing tumor development and new interventions in transgenic mouse models of human blood cancers such as multiple myeloma (MM) has not been demonstrated. Here we use BALB/c mice that contain the newly developed iMyc(ΔEμ) gene insertion and the widely expressed H2-L(d)-IL6 transgene to demonstrate that FDG-PET/CT affords an excellent research tool for assessing interleukin-6- and MYC-driven plasma cell tumor (PCT) development in a serial, reproducible and stage- and lesion-specific manner. We also show that FDG-PET/CT permits determination of objective drug responses in PCT-bearing mice treated with the investigational proteasome inhibitor ixazomib (MLN2238), the biologically active form of ixazomib citrate (MLN9708), that is currently in phase 3 clinical trials in MM. Overall survival of 5 of 6 ixazomib-treated mice doubled compared with mice left untreated. One outlier mouse presented with primary refractory disease. Our findings demonstrate the utility of FDG-PET/CT for preclinical MM research and suggest that this method will play an important role in the design and testing of new approaches to treat myeloma.

Positive correlation between baseline PET or PET/CT findings and clinical parameters in multiple myeloma patients

Recently, positron emission tomography (PET) has been incorporated into a series of prospective studies as a predictor of outcomes in multiple myeloma (MM), and the number of (18)F-fluorodeoxuglucose (FDG)-avid focal lesions (FLs) and the intensity of tumor metabolism have been designated as important surrogate markers for predicting prognosis. Here, we compared initial clinical characteristics of MM patients with baseline PET parameters: the number of FLs and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). A total of 59 patients diagnosed with MM between August 2004 and February 2012 were reviewed. At diagnosis, 23 patients (40.0%) had ≤3 FLs, 11 patients (18.6%) 4-9 FLs, and 25 patients (42.4%) ≥10 FLs. The median SUVmax was 5.3 (range 0-24.3), and 40 patients (67.8%) showed a SUVmax >4. No clinical characteristics were significantly different between groups with a SUVmax ≤4 and a SUVmax >4. However, there were significant differences in several clinical indices between the FLs ≤3 and FLs >3 groups; elevated β2-microglobulin, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, anemia and more advanced disease by the Durie-Salmon stage corresponded to FLs >3 at baseline PET. Adverse baseline PET findings are positively correlated with prognostically relevant clinical parameters. Regarding PET parameters, FLs are more likely to be well correlated with disease aggressiveness and pathophysiology compared to SUVmax.

Very late antigen-4 (α(4)β(1) Integrin) targeted PET imaging of multiple myeloma

Biomedical imaging techniques such as skeletal survey and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)/Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are frequently used to diagnose and stage multiple myeloma (MM) patients. However, skeletal survey has limited sensitivity as it can detect osteolytic lesions only after 30-50% cortical bone destruction, and FDG is a marker of cell metabolism that has limited sensitivity for intramedullary lesions in MM. Targeted, and non-invasive novel probes are needed to sensitively and selectively image the unique molecular signatures and cellular processes associated with MM. Very late antigen-4 (VLA-4; also called α(4)β(1) integrin) is over-expressed on MM cells, and is one of the key mediators of myeloma cell adhesion to the bone marrow (BM) that promotes MM cell trafficking and drug resistance. Here we describe a proof-of-principle, novel molecular imaging strategy for MM tumors using a VLA-4 targeted PET radiopharmaceutical, (64)Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A. Cell uptake studies in a VLA-4-positive murine MM cell line, 5TGM1, demonstrated receptor specific uptake (P<0.0001, block vs. non-block). Tissue biodistribution at 2 h of (64)Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A in 5TGM1 tumor bearing syngeneic KaLwRij mice demonstrated high radiotracer uptake in the tumor (12±4.5%ID/g), and in the VLA-4 rich organs, spleen (8.8±1.0%ID/g) and marrow (11.6±2.0%ID/g). Small animal PET/CT imaging with (64)Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A demonstrated high uptake in the 5TGM1 tumors (SUV 6.6±1.1). There was a 3-fold reduction in the in vivo tumor uptake in the presence of blocking agent (2.3±0.4). Additionally, (64)Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A demonstrated high binding to the human MM cell line RPMI-8226 that was significantly reduced in the presence of the cold targeting agent. These results provide pre-clinical evidence that VLA-4-targeted imaging using (64)Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A is a novel approach to imaging MM tumors.