An unprecedented effort to sequence the genome, exome and RNA in tumors from patients with multiple myeloma defines distinct subtypes of the disease, according to an international team of scientists led by researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of the City of Hope. The findings of the 12-year provide a clearer picture of the genetic changes that may be important in each subtype of this cancer of our antibody producing plasma cells, which is treatable but incurable. This information could help guide more personalized treatments in the future, the researchers in .
The scientists identified the for a high-risk patient population, named "PR," that is associated with a median survival of under two years compared to the average survival in the study that exceeds eight years. About 25% of patients transitioned to the PR subtype during the study, and those who transitioned to PR had worse outcomes, with a median survival of 88 days after the transition. "We've known about this subtype for over a decade and now replicated that this is a high-risk group of patients with the therapies used today.
Clearly, these are patients who we need to get on because the current drugs just don't work for them," said Jonathan Keats, Ph.D., assistant professor, director of Bioinformatics and Collaborative Sequencing Center at TGen, and a senior author on the paper.
"What we clearly showed is that there is a genetic basis for people being in the PR subgroup." The stu.