The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s CoMMpass study, a prospective, longitudinal observational study of 1,143 newly diagnosed, previously untreated multiple myeloma patients, revealed critical genetic markers that can better predict disease progression and identify patients at risk of transitioning to more aggressive forms of the disease.
For over 50 years, scientists have been on a quest to identify which malignant mutations within the tumor allow rogue cells to break away from the primary tumor and travel through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to metastasize throughout the body. Now, new research suggests an alternative mechanism has been overlooked—elusive mutations driving metastasis may not be developing within the twisted DNA of tumors themselves, but within the patient’s regular, inherited DNA.
