Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 29, 2026

An Organotypic High Throughput System for Characterization of Drug Sensitivity of Primary Multiple Myeloma Cells
Published on: July 15, 2015
Immunomodulatory Drugs in the Context of Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Associate With Reduced
Giulia Di Lullo1, Magda Marcatti2, Silvia Heltai1
1Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) are effective therapeutics for multiple myeloma (MM), where in different clinical settings they exert their function both directly on MM cells and indirectly by modulating immune cell subsets, although with not completely defined mechanisms. Here we studied the role of IMiDs in the context of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on the T cell subset distribution in the bone marrow of newly diagnosed MM patients. We found that after transplantation pro-tumor Th17-Th1 and Th22 cells and their related cytokines were lower in patients treated with IMiDs during induction chemotherapy compared to untreated patients. Of note, lower levels of IL-17, IL-22, and related IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-23 in the bone marrow sera correlated with treatment with IMiDs and favorable clinical outcome. Collectively, our results suggest a novel anti-inflammatory role for IMiDs in MM.
Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) are effective therapeutics for multiple myeloma (MM), where in different clinical settings they exert their function both directly on MM cells and indirectly by modulating immune cell subsets, although with not completely defined mechanisms. Here we studied the role of IMiDs in the context of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on the T cell subset distribution in the bone marrow of newly diagnosed MM patients. We found that after transplantation pro-tumor Th17-Th1 and Th22 cells and their related cytokines were lower in patients treated with IMiDs during induction chemotherapy compared to untreated patients. Of note, lower levels of IL-17, IL-22, and related IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-23 in the bone marrow sera correlated with treatment with IMiDs and favorable clinical outcome. Collectively, our results suggest a novel anti-inflammatory role for IMiDs in MM.
Related Concept Videos
Multipotency of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Adult Stem Cells
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Embryonic Stem Cells

