Description
The multiple myeloma (MM) data set (endpoints F, G, H, and I) was contributed by the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS, Little Rock, AR, USA). Gene expression profiling of highly purified bone marrow plasma cells was performed in newly diagnosed patients with MM. The training set consisted of 340 cases enrolled on total therapy 2 (TT2) and the validation set comprised 214 patients enrolled in total therapy 3 (TT3). Plasma cells were enriched by anti-CD138 immunomagnetic bead selection of mononuclear cell fractions of bone marrow aspirates in a central laboratory. All samples applied to the microarray contained more than 85% plasma cells as determined by 2-color flow cytometry (CD38+ and CD45-/dim) performed after selection. Dichotomized overall survival (OS) and eventfree survival (EFS) were determined based on a two-year milestone cutoff. A gene expression model of high-risk multiple myeloma was developed and validated by the data provider and later on validated in three additional independent data sets.