Epigenetic regulation of multiple myeloma cells: identification of potential biomarkers and new combination therapies. (FWOTM796)

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell cancer located in the bone marrow (BM). During the past decade, novel drugs have improved the outcome of MM patients dramatically. Nevertheless,patients inevitably relapse. Therefore, it is necessary to identify novel targets and therapies to further improve the outcome of MM patients. Recent work demonstrated the importance of epigenetics in the progression of cancer, including MM. Several epigenetic aberrations have been identified in MM. In addition, targeting epigenetic mechanisms with for example DNAmethyltransferase inhibitors or histone deacetylase inhibitors shows promising pre-clinical results. However, epigenetic-targeted therapy has not yet been succesfully translated to the clinic.Therefore, future studies are needed to enhance our understanding of epigenetic regulation of MM cells, especially in vivo. Very recenly, it was suggested that epigenetic mechanisms are important for the maintainance of genomic stability and the regulation of immune responses. In this project, we want to investigate the potential role of epigenetic regulation in these two processes in the context of MM. Our aim is to identify (i) novel epigenetic targets, (ii) novel options for combination therapies with epigenetic-targeted therapy and (iii) biomarkers. Theobtained results will help to design clinical trials implementing epigenetic modulating agents and identify patients who would benefit from rationally designed therapies.

Keywords:myeloma cells

Disciplines:Animal morphology, anatomy and physiology