Darrell, Historically, quite some years ago, deletion 13 or monosomy 13 was in itself a high-risk marker, then the drugs or called the pareso inhibitor family, in which one of them is bortezomib (Velcade) came about, and it showed that whether the patient had deletion 13 or no outcomes were similar when they got bortezomib, so it was no longer a high-risk marker.

Monosomy 13 Is Associated With the Transition of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance to Multiple Myeloma. Monosomy is an imbalance in chromosome numbers. In a monosomy, one chromosome of a homologous pair is missing. Monosomy 13 is a deletion on chromosome 13. Chromosome 13 abnormalities are frequently observed in multiple myeloma. Monosomy 13 used to be considered a high risk marker. With the use of Velcade in treatment monosomy 13 or deletion 13 is not considered a high-risk marker anymore.

One thing I learned from a class presented by UCSF is that even if diagnosed with moderate or low risk MM it can increase to high risk as the disease progresses. The journey is not for the light hearted and I’m so glad to be surrounded by warriors.

I have read that Monosomy or deletion 13 is not considered high risk any more because they now have a chemo to address it.

Robert I’m not sure when chromosome 13 stopped being a high risk. That was the main reason I had back to back SCT in (Phone number can only be seen by the question and answer creators) days apart.