Association between magnetic resonance imaging patterns and baseline disease features in multiple myeloma: analyzing surrogates of tumour mass and biology

Objective

To assess associations between bone marrow infiltration patterns and localization in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and baseline clinical/prognostic parameters in multiple myeloma (MM).

Methods

We compared baseline MM parameters, MRI patterns and localization of focal lesions to the mineralized bone in 206 newly diagnosed MM patients.

Results

A high tumour mass (represented by International Staging System stage III) was significantly associated with severe diffuse infiltration (p?=?0.015) and a higher number of focal lesions (p?=?0.006). Elevated creatinine (p?=?0.003), anaemia (p?

Conclusions

Diffuse bone marrow infiltration on MRI correlates with adverse cytogenetics, lowered haemoglobin values and high tumour burden in newly diagnosed MM whereas an increasing number of focal lesions correlates with a higher degree of bone destruction. Focal lesions exceeding the cortical bone did not adversely affect the prognosis.

Key Points

? Diffuse MRI correlates with adverse cytogenetics, lowered haemoglobin and high tumour burden. ? Higher numbers of MRI focal lesions correlate with increasing degree of bone destruction. ? Focal lesions exceeding the cortical bone borderline significantly influence survival. ? Moderate/severe diffuse infiltration and more than 23 focal lesions adversely affect survival.