Immunotherapy for Multiple Myeloma

This issue of Clinical and Development Immunology addresses the need for the improvement in understanding the immunological interaction between myeloma cells, immune cells, and the microenvironment as well as the development of more efficient immunotherapies in multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a malignancy which accounts for 14% of all hematological malignancies and for nearly 2% of all cancers. Despite progress in understanding of the disease biology and improvement in therapeutic options in the recent years, multiple myeloma remains an incurable disease. A long-lasting remission after donor lymphocyte infusion in patients with relapsed disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, the cytotoxic effect of new immunomodulating agents such as thalidomide and lenalidomide and immunotherapy in vitro models strongly supported the efficacy of immunotherapy-based therapy.