Genetic risk identifies multiple myeloma patients who do not benefit from autologous stem cell transplantation

Genetic aberrations have emerged as major prognostic factors for patients with multiple myeloma ( MM). We evaluated 126 MM patients for t(4; 14) or t(11; 14), 13q or p53 deletions and correlated the number of genetic aberrations with patient's clinical outcome following undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation. W e demonstrate the significance of genetic-based risk classification that clearly segregate patients into low ( no genetic abnormalities or only t( 11; 14)), intermediate ( any one of the genetic abnormalities other than t( 11; 14)) and high-risk groups ( any two or more of the genetic abnormalities other than t( 11; 14)). High-risk patients do not bene. t from stem cell transplant and should be offered alternative therapies.