Multiple myeloma: diagnosis and therapy (part 1)

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell neoplasm that accounts for 1%-1.8% of all cancers. The initial diagnostic workup in all patients should include baseline laboratory studies are needed: examination of peripheral blood smear, serum creatinine, creatinine clearance, serum calcium, albumin, lactate dehydrogenase and beta-2 microglobulin. Bone marrow studies at initial should include chromosome analysis by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) performed on the plasma cells obtained from bone marrow aspiration. Over the last decades, survival rates for patients with multiple myeloma markedly increased mainly due to the use of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and new highly efficacious rescue therapies. For patients