Immunofixation (IF) in urine is really necessary to define complete remission in multiple myeloma (MM)? a subanalysis from the Pethema/GEM2012MENOS65 phase III clinical trial

Resumen:
Background: The international criteria for definition CR, requires, among other parametres, a negative IF both in serum and urine; however, urine IF is not always performed. In the belief that this lack could bias the comparison between trials, the First Trial Independent Response Adjudication Committee (FTIRAC) recommended that patients who met all CR criteria except the availability of a urine IF should be classified as VGPR (Blood 2014; 124 [abstract 3460]) but this criteria is not always applied which may translate into differences in CR rates between trials. However, it is unknown (1) if this conversion has a real clinical basis, (2) if urine IF results alter the clinical meaning of CR, or (3) on the contrary, if patients in CR with and those without a documented negative urine IF have a similar prognosis, in which case this rule would underestimate the CR rates, increasing the biases and magnifying the problem that was intended to improve. Aim: To determine the value of urine negative IF in the definition of CR.