Altered cytokine and chemokine profiles in multiple myeloma and its precursor disease

• SMM and MM patients exhibit altered cytokine and chemokine profiles.
• Progressive disease is associated with increased levels of CXCL8.
• CXCL8 is a potential predictor of tumor progression.

Currently, no reliable biomarkers are available to predict transformation from smoldering myeloma (SMM) to multiple myeloma (MM). Using an ultrasensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) we assessed the levels of a broad range of cytokines and chemokines in the peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) supernatant collected from 14 SMM and 38 MM patients and compared to healthy donors. We found significantly increased levels of key cytokines, in particular CXCL8 (IL-8), associated with progressive disease state (controls → SMM → MM). Cytokine profiles were found similar in PB and BM. Five of fourteen SMM patients (36%) progressed to MM.Our findings, although based on a limited number of patients, suggest that serum-based cytokines may have a future role as biomarkers for disease progression and could potentially be assessed as novel targets for treatment.