Involvement of alarmins in the pathogenesis and progression of multiple myeloma

Objective: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a haematological disease resulting from the neo-plastic transformation of plasma cells. The uncontrolled growth of plasma cells in the bone marrow and the delivery of several cytokines causes bone erosion that often does not regress, even in the event of disease remission. MM is characterised by a multi-step evolutionary path, which starts with an early asymptomatic stage defined as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) evolving to overt disease. Data Sources and Study Selection: We have selected scientific publications on the specific topics “alarmis, MGUS, and MM”, drawing from PubMed. The keywords we used were alarmines, MGUS, MM, and immune system. Results: The analysis confirms the pivotal role of molecules such as high-mobility group box-1, heat shock proteins, and S100 proteins in the induction of neoangiogenesis, which represents a milestone in the negative evolution of MM as well as other haematological and non-haematological tumours. Conclusions: Modulation of the host immune system and the inhibition of neoangiogenesis may represent the therapeutic target for the treatment of MM that is capable of promoting better survival and reducing the risk of RRMM.