from Flow Cytometry to Cytomics

The highly anticipated panel discussion on the hot topic of MRD at the Myeloma 2017 meeting in Edinburgh, UK produced thought-provoking debate. In this video the main points of debate are discussed by Jeffrey Wolf, MD from the University of California, San Francisco, CA, Roger Owen, MD, MRCP, MRCPath of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK, Bruno Paiva, PhD from the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, Nina Shah, MD of UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA and Joaquin Martinez-Lopez, MD, PhD from the Hospital Universitario, Madrid, Spain. Questions asked in the discussion included: Should MRD be the primary endpoint for clinical trials? Should MRD negativity be the goal of myeloma treatment, and are we yet at the point to use it in the clinic? Where is MRD research going moving forward? Furthermore, the pros and cons of flow cytometry vs. next generation sequencing to determine MRD are discussed, as well as the quality control in this process.

A newly released survey of clinical testing finds that widely divergent methodologies for MRD testing remain a continuing challenge.