Deep Profiling of the Immune Microenvironment throughout Myeloma Disease Stages

Background The immune system is altered in multiple myeloma (MM) and contributes to therapy resistance. The availability of novel immunotherapies necessitates understanding the influence of the immune microenvironment on disease progression which may inform sensitivity to therapy. The objective of this study is to fully characterize the immune microenvironment in MM precursor diseases and MM and identify any immune contribution to progression. To accomplish this we used high-dimensional mass cytometry (CyTOF) to investigate immune alterations associated with progression in pre-malignant and malignant stages of MM.