PhD defence R. (Ruth) Wester

Brief summary of the doctoral thesis:

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant plasma cell disorder and is the second most common hematological malignancy. It is characterized by the clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow. These malignant plasma cells secrete a monoclonal protein (M-protein). Typical organ damage caused by this malignant plasma cell clone includes osteolytic bone lesions, renal failure, anemia, and hypercalcemia, and are the result of the accumulation of plasma cells in tissues and due to the production of cytokines by the plasma cells. Survival in patients with MM has significantly improved during the last decades due to the introduction of novel therapeutic agents, i.e. high dose melphalan (HDM) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), immune modulating agents (IMiDs), proteasome inhibitors (PI), monoclonal antibodies and most recently CAR T cell therapy and bispecific antibodies. Despite these major improvement in therapeutic options, MM remains an incurable disease. In this thesis outcome in patients with MM was evaluated using different treatment strategies with emphasis on treatment with IMiDs.