Clinical Utility of Next-Generation Flow-Based Minimal Residual Disease Assessment in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Background: Minimal residual disease (MRD) is an important prognostic factor for evaluating a deeper treatment response in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). We evaluated the clinical utility of next-generation flow (NGF)-based MRD assessment in a heterogeneous MM patient population. Methods: Patients with suspected morphological remission after or during MM treatment were prospectively enrolled. In total, 108 bone marrow samples from 90 patients were analyzed using NGF-based MRD assessment according to the EuroFlow protocol, and progression-free survival (PFS) was evaluated according to the International Myeloma Working Group response status, cytogenetic risk, and MRD status. Conclusions: Clinical application of NGF-based MRD assessment can provide valuable information for predicting disease progression in patients with MM in remission, including those with high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities.