Well-designed studies are needed to further confirm the importance of MRD for new myeloma drug development and eventually in routine patient care . The MMRF has several efforts underway :
The MMRF is collaborating with Adaptive Biotechnologies , the University of Torino , and Amgen on a groundbreaking clinical trial , the mINimal reSIdual DiseasE in Multiple Myeloma-1 ( INSIDE MM-1 ) study . Through INSIDE MM-1 , a state-of-the-art evaluation of MRD is being performed on hundreds of myeloma patients over the next five years to evaluate how MRD levels change in response to treatment and as the disease evolves . This will help to further assess the reliability and accuracy of the methods employed . Through a partnership with Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on a new clinical trial , “ Carfilzomib , lenalidomide , dexamethasone in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma : a translational MRD study ,” MMRF and its collaborators are going beyond just counting the number of cells to learn more about the “ D ” in MRD .
“ Understanding which genes might predict sustained MRD negativity may allow researchers to quickly determine which treatments are effective ,” said Dr . Ola Landgren MD , PhD , a pioneer in the field of MRD who is leading this trial with his colleague , Dr . Neha Korde .
M I N I M A L R E S I D U A L D I S E A S E
Current MRD approaches are based mostly on bone marrow aspirations ( BMAs ). Frequent BMAs to measure MRD can prove to be extremely challenging for patients and clinicians , and at times impractical . In recent years , the MMRF has invested heavily in developing innovative , minimally invasive new blood-based technologies for MRD testing . Last month , MMRF 2014 Fellow awardee Dr . Jens Lohr from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute published groundbreaking MMRF-supported work demonstrating the feasibility of better characterizing MRD from even only one myeloma cell in the blood of a myeloma patient .
The MMRF , together with partners , is speeding the approval of this test in order to get the most sensitive method of disease detection into routine clinical practice and ultimately provide answers for treatment options .
For more information about the latest MRD news , visit The MMRF Blog : themmrf . org / news-and-views / the-mmrf-blog
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