Caponi Laura, Del Giudice Maria Livia, Botti Alice, Ursino Silvia, Gennari Alberto, Paolicchi Aldo, Galimberti Sara, Buda Gabriele
Clinical Pathology Laboratory, Pisa University Hospital, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Hematology Division, Pisa University Hospital, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
J Clin Lab Anal. 2025 Feb;39(4):e25151. doi: 10.1002/jcla.25151. Epub 2025 Jan 16.
The management of multiple myeloma is challenging because the disease is incurable and unexpected relapses can threaten a patient's survival. Several assessment systems are currently available, but they often require invasive or costly procedures (e.g., instrumental bone marrow and whole-body examinations) or rely on non-specific markers in blood and urine that may not be sufficient to assess and monitor the disease.
To address some of these limitations, the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential use of soluble B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA), a promising new serum biomarker, as a toll for moniting multiple myeloma patients.
MATERIALS & METHODS: An unselected cohort of 57 newly diagnosed or relapsed myeloma patients was followed up for 6 months after starting a new therapy. Soluble BCMA levels were measured in peripheral blood using a simple and inexpensive ELISA assay.
Soluble BCMA was detectable in peripheral blood by a simple and inexpensive assay in all patients, even in non-secretory disease or during BCMA-targeted therapies, and significant changes in its levels were observed over time. The analysis showed that the decrease in sBCMA at 1 and 6 months reflects the quality of the clinical response to anti-myeloma regimens.
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: The data provide interesting insights into the usefulness of sBCMA as a non-invasive tool for early assessment of treatment efficacy. Its simple and cost-effective detection in peripheral blood could provide clinicians with an addiotional resource for monitoring disease progression and tailoring treatment strategies.
多发性骨髓瘤的治疗具有挑战性，因为该疾病无法治愈，意外复发可能威胁患者的生存。目前有几种评估系统，但它们通常需要侵入性或昂贵的程序（例如，仪器化骨髓和全身检查），或者依赖于血液和尿液中的非特异性标志物，这些标志物可能不足以评估和监测该疾病。
为了解决其中一些局限性，本研究的目的是评估可溶性B细胞成熟抗原（BCMA）这一有前景的新型血清生物标志物作为监测多发性骨髓瘤患者的工具的潜在用途。
对57例新诊断或复发的骨髓瘤患者的非选择队列在开始新治疗后随访6个月。使用简单且廉价的酶联免疫吸附测定法在外周血中测量可溶性BCMA水平。
通过简单且廉价的测定法在所有患者的外周血中均可检测到可溶性BCMA，即使在非分泌性疾病或接受靶向BCMA治疗期间也是如此，并且观察到其水平随时间有显著变化。分析表明，在1个月和6个月时sBCMA的下降反映了抗骨髓瘤方案临床反应的质量。
这些数据为sBCMA作为早期评估治疗疗效的非侵入性工具的实用性提供了有趣的见解。其在外周血中简单且经济高效的检测可为临床医生提供监测疾病进展和制定治疗策略的额外资源。
