New commercial next-generation flow-based MRD test launched
A new commercial next-generation flow (NGF)-based minimal residual disease (MRD) test for multiple myeloma (MM) was launched by Quest Diagnostics. The test is expected to be available at about 7,000 Quest locations. The launch comes on the heels of the recent Draft Guidance issued by the U.S. FDA on the use of MRD and complete response as endpoints in MM drug approvals.

Updated data and novel MM CAR-T therapies featured at the 2026 TANDEM Meetings
Several MM CAR-T therapy studies were in the spotlight at the 2026 TANDEM Meetings; these included:

• A talk in the Best Abstracts session on a novel BCMA CAR-T that includes a secretory module.
• A preclinical study on the novel D-Domain binder in anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel) featured in the Late-Breaking Abstracts session; updated data for anito-cel from the phase 2 registrational iMMagine-1 trial were presented at the IMS 2025 Annual Meeting
• Oral Abstract session presentations, including subgroup analyses for older ide-cel recipients from KarMMa-3; data from the phase 1b/2 DURGA-1 trial of a first-in-class BCMA/CD19 dual-targeting CAR-T therapy; results from the phase 1 CaMMouflage trial of an allogeneic BCMA CAR-T therapy; identification of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with delayed neurotoxicity and non-relapse mortality in cilta-cel recipients; assessment of circulating T-cells as surrogates of the T-cell dynamics within the bone marrow MM microenvironment

SEER registry data may overestimate myeloma survival
Survival outcomes for patients with myeloma in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry may be overestimated by nine months. The overestimation is driven by inclusion of patients with active MM and smoldering myeloma in the same dataset, the authors noted in an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Certain cardiovascular medications may improve survival, but increase AEs
In a Scientific Reports article in press, researchers analyzed the association between the use of different classes of cardiovascular agents, including beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors (ACEI), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), diuretics, and statins, and outcomes for patients with MM receiving anti-myeloma treatments. ACEIs and ARBs were associated with improved progression-free survival but also had higher odds of experiencing grade 3 or higher adverse events.

Single-molecule localization microscopy method can help quantify CD38 on MM cells
Using an optimized protocol for immunolabeling and analyzing super-resolution microscopy images, reported in Science Advances, researchers were able to quantify endogenous membrane-associated CD38 expression on MM cells and compare the interaction of primary MM cells with two different therapeutic anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies.