How Laboratory Innovations Are Shaping the Future of Multiple Myeloma Care
by
, , ,
Joana Caetano
1,2
,
Ana Marta Pires
3,
Carlos Costa
4,
Rui Bergantim
5,6,7,
Adriana Roque
8,9,
Patrícia Ferraz
10,
Maria Rosário Cunha
11,
Niccolo Bolli
12,13,
Noemi Puig
14 and
Cristina João
1,2,*
1
Hemato-Oncology Unit, Fundação Champalimaud, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal
2
NOVA Medical School, NOVA University of Lisbon, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
3
Clinical Pathology Department, Unidade Local de Saúde Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-508 Vila Real, Portugal
4
Hemato-Oncology Unit, CUF Hospital Cascais, 2750-663 Cascais, Portugal
5
Hematology Department, Unidade Local de Saúde São João, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
6
Cancer Drug Resistance Group, Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology (IPATIMUP), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
7
i3S-Institute for Research and Innovation in Health, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
8
Clinical Hematology Department, Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra, 3004-561 Coimbra, Portugal
9
Physiology Institute, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra, 1649-023 Coimbra, Portugal
10
Hematology Department, Unidade Local de Saúde Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-508 Vila Real, Portugal
11
Clinical Pathology Department, Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra, 3004-561 Coimbra, Portugal
12
Hematology Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
13
Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
14
Hematology Department, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL) y Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Universidad de Salamanca, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (USAL-CSIC), CIBERONC, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Cancers 2026, 18(8), 1275; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18081275
Submission received: 17 March 2026
/
Revised: 9 April 2026
/
Accepted: 16 April 2026
/
Published: 17 April 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnosis of Hematologic Malignancies: 2nd Edition)
Simple Summary
Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that can be difficult to detect and monitor over time. This review examines how recent laboratory innovations are improving the way the disease is detected, followed, and treated. New technologies, such as advanced genetic testing, minimally invasive tests that analyze tumor-derived material in blood, and automated data analysis allow doctors to identify the disease earlier and monitor it more accurately during and after treatment. These tools also help to classify patients into different risk groups and support more personalized treatment decisions based on the characteristics of each patient’s disease. In addition, the integration of artificial intelligence is helping clinicians to interpret large amounts of clinical and biological data more efficiently. Overall, these laboratory advances are changing patient care by supporting earlier diagnosis, more precise monitoring, and more individualized treatment strategies, with the goal of improving outcomes and long-term disease management.
Abstract
Multiple myeloma is a complex hematologic malignancy characterized by significant biological heterogeneity, a relapsing–remission clinical course, and a continuously evolving therapeutic landscape. Accurate and timely laboratory assessment is central to disease management, supporting diagnosis, risk stratification, evaluation of treatment response, and long-term monitoring. Despite major advances in therapy, a critical need remains for laboratory tools that can detect disease with greater sensitivity, capture spatial and clonal tumor heterogeneity, and reflect the true depth of treatment response beyond conventional serological and bone marrow-based criteria. Recent laboratory innovations have the potential to transform myeloma care by enabling earlier detection, more accurate prognostication, and personalized therapeutic strategies. This review focuses specifically on innovative laboratory technologies for the diagnosis of multiple myeloma and the evaluation of treatment response. Within this scope, we examine the current diagnostic approaches and the role of high-throughput technologies for measurable residual disease assessment. We explore the emerging role of liquid biopsy approaches, including circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA/RNA, and mass spectrometry for ultrasensitive detection of monoclonal proteins. We further discuss novel molecular biomarkers and the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to enhance data interpretation. The innovations reviewed here represent a shift in the contribution of laboratory medicine to myeloma care, offering a more precise, less invasive, and biologically informative framework for targeted and adaptive clinical decisions.
