Abstract
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease that remains incurable with significant interpatient variability in outcomes. Regulatory B cells (Bregs) were observed to be involved into specific defects in MM. Here, we provide our risk-adapted approach to newly diagnosed MM (NDMM), combining with the fundamental dysfunction of Bregs. We reported one hundred consecutive patients with NDMM from South-Western China, primarily treated with bortezomib plus dexamethasone with or without a 3(rd) agent, were enrolled from 2017. Bone marrow aspirates were obtained and flow cytometry (FCM) was used to quantify the percentage of Bregs from the bone marrow. The correlation between Bregs and clinical characters were further analyzed. This study found using bortezomib plus dexamethasone as backbone showed promising efficacy with acceptable tolerability in NDMM. The relatively compromised progression free survival (PFS) points to the essential synergy of bortezomib and lenalidomide here. This study also found that altered proportions of Bregs were closely correlated with treatment efficacy and prognosis in MM. Further understanding of Bregs biology might provide new opportunities to develop immunotherapy, which could prove beneficial in treating MM.