Multiple Myeloma Subtyping That Associates Normal B-Cell Subset Phenotypes, do Correlate to Disease Stage and Prognosis - Indication of Reversible Phenotypic Plasticity as a Hallmark

Today’s diagnostic tests for multiple myeloma (MM) reflect the criteria of the updated WHO classification based on biomarkers and clinicopathologic heterogeneity. To that end, we propose a new biological subtyping of myeloma plasma cells (PC) by B-cell subset associated gene signatures (BAGS), from the normal B-cell hierarchy in the bone marrow (BM). Here we document the prognostic and biological value of subtyping, as shown for DLBCL (JCO 2015 Apr 20;33:1379).