Normalization of serum B-cell maturation antigen levels predicts overall survival among multiple myeloma patients starting treatment

Abstract

Serum B-cell maturation antigen (sBCMA) is a novel biomarker for B-cell malignancies. A normal reference range (<82·59 ng/ml) has been recently established but the impact of achieving normal levels to outcomes for patients receiving treatment for B-cell malignancies has not been studied. We first found that among multiple myeloma (MM) patients starting a new treatment, those who begin treatment within normal sBCMA limits (<82·59 ng/ml) have improved progression-free survival (PFS; P = 0·0398) and overall survival (OS; P = 0·0217) than those who do not. Furthermore, among patients who begin treatment with elevated (≥82·59 ng/ml) sBCMA levels, we assessed the relationship of a decrease in sBCMA to the normal range to OS and found that those who normalize sBCMA demonstrated improved OS (P = 0·0078). Normalizing patients also experienced a markedly improved overall response rate (P < 0·0001). Moreover, all patients who achieved complete remission (CR) showed normalization of sBCMA, and time to normalization (median 0·9 months) was faster than time to CR (5·0 months; P = 0·0036) for these patients. These results suggest that normalization of sBCMA may be an accurate predictor of OS for MM patients during treatment and predict for a higher likelihood of response.