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SHUTTERSTOCK
Myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow. It is currently incurable, but many people can survive following disease diagnosis for over 10 years. However, around 1 in 5 people with myeloma have a high-risk form of the disease, which is characterised by earlier relapse after successful initial treatment, leading to a shorter survival of only 2-3 years.
The challenge for clinicians is predicting when relapse will occur so that these people can be targeted with effective alternative therapies before advanced disease is established. Current methods of disease monitoring are not sufficiently sensitive to pick up these early warning signs.
In this award funded by Cancer Research UK, Dr Karthik Ramasamy (Oxford University Hospitals and Co-Director of the Oxford Translational Myeloma Centre) together with Dr Ceri Bygrave (University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff), will lead research into a new monitoring technique called quantitative immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (QIP-MS). The researchers will test the ability of QIP-MS to predict and detect relapse earlier compared to currently used techniques in people with high-risk myeloma taking part in the Myeloma XV RADAR trial. QIP-MS is also advantageous in its use of blood rather than bone marrow samples, meaning that, if proven to be more sensitive, patients undergoing regular monitoring would be subjected to fewer painful procedures.