Proteomic analysis of multiple myeloma: current status and future perspectives

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant plasma cell neoplasm that accounts for slightly more than 10% of all hematologic cancers and remains incurable. The major challenge remains the identification of better diagnosis and prognostic biomarkers. The advent of proteomic technologies creates new opportunities and challenges for those seeking to gain greater understanding of MM. Although there is a limited number of proteomic studies to date in MM, those performed highlight the potential impact of these technologies in our understanding of MM pathogenesis and the identification of novel therapeutic targets. In this review, we introduce the proteomic technologies available for the study of MM, summarize results of the published proteomic studies on MM, and discuss the novel developments and applications for the analysis of protein PTM in MM. The application of proteomic technologies will be valuable to better understand the pathogenesis of MM and may in the future open novel avenues in the treatment of MM.