Perspectives on the origins of multiple myeloma and plasmacytomas in mice.

The natural history of multiple myeloma and related human plasma cell tumors is compared to the process of plasmacytomagenesis in mice. Intriguing new findings are beginning to give a more complete picture of the evolution of these tumors. Mouse plasmacytomas consistently develop chromosomal translocations that dysregulate c-myc, but consistent oncogenic mutations have not yet been defined in multiple myeloma.