Dynamic Inflammatory and Erythrocyte-Derived Biomarkers in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma: A Longitudinal Analysis of Classical and Novel Indices
TL;DR
Baseline inflammatory and erythrocyte-derived indices, including the novel composite markers MCVL and IIC, have limited prognostic utility in multiple myeloma, and dynamic changes in inflammatory biomarkers during treatment may provide more clinically relevant information regarding disease progression.
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Inflammatory and hematologic indices derived from routine blood tests have been increasingly investigated as prognostic biomarkers in multiple myeloma (MM). However, their clinical utility remains inconsistent, and data on novel composite indices, such as the mean corpuscular volume-to-lymphocyte ratio (MCVL) and the cumulative inflammatory index (IIC), are lacking in MM. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study including 122 patients with newly diagnosed MM. Hematologic and inflammatory indices were evaluated at baseline and after four cycles of induction therapy. Associations with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using Kaplan–Meier analysis, Cox regression models, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Baseline inflammatory biomarkers, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), systemic immune–inflammation index (SII), MCVL, and IIC, were not significantly associated with PFS or OS. ROC analysis demonstrated poor discriminative ability for all evaluated markers at both baseline and post-induction timepoints (AUC values close to or below 0.50). In contrast, post-induction inflammatory indices, particularly PLR, MLR, AISI, and SIRI, were significantly associated with PFS in both univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses. Neither baseline nor post-induction MCVL and IIC showed independent prognostic value. Conclusions: Baseline inflammatory and erythrocyte-derived indices, including the novel composite markers MCVL and IIC, have limited prognostic utility in MM. In contrast, dynamic changes in inflammatory biomarkers during treatment may provide more clinically relevant information regarding disease progression. These findings support integrating longitudinal biomarker assessment into future risk stratification models for MM.