Screening for AL Amyloidosis in Smoldering Multiple Myeloma

Creating a network to enroll patients on a collaborative study requiring marrow and blood specimens, to collect data for a training set of likelihood statistics and to plan a future validation study.

With a 15-center network covering 12 states and almost 45% of the US population, we will evaluate 400 SMM patients \> 40 years old who pass FLC criteria using standard of care tests including NT-proBNP and clinical marrow specimens evaluated for the presence of t(11;14) and gain1q. Marrow cells will be processed by NGS for clonal IGLV gene identification. With the training data obtained, we will use existing statistical modeling techniques to generate a statistical algorithm for identifying undiagnosed cases of AL and assessment of risk of AL, and to plan a validation study testing the training model. We will also investigate a role for the novel biomarker clusterin (Clu) as an indicator of risk of AL in SMM patients; preliminary work indicates that Clu is significantly lower in AL than in SMM patients.

Validating an NGS assay that identifies IGLV genes in clonal plasma cells

All subjects will have their clonal IGLV genes identified by NGS enabling the creation and validation of a laboratory developed test in a precision medicine laboratory that is certified under regulations of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). Approval for this laboratory developed test for both κ and λ IGVL genes will permit providers, patients and researchers to use the test in decision-making to care for monoclonal gammopathy patients. We will also investigate the exploratory objective of defining the alterations in sequence in AL and non-AL FLC derived from the same IGLV germline gene.