Dr Romanos Sklavenitis-Pistofidis speaks to ecancer about revolutionising myeloma treatment through immune profiling.
Large single-cell RNA-sequencing of 6 million tumour and immune cells in patients with plasma cell premalignancy unveils co-regulation of disease progression by tumour biology, and immune dysregulation in myeloma patients.
The study profiles 877 samples and identifies novel immune biomarkers.
It shows that differentiated cytotoxic T cells are linked to higher disease progression risk, while dysfunctional T cells and myeloid cell changes are noted.
Increased interferon signalling correlates with progression, and T-cell receptor diversity decreases with disease advancement, emphasising the need for routine immune profiling.