Dr Hans Lee on New IMS/IMWG Criteria for Defining Cure in Myeloma

In an interview with Targeted Oncology at the 2026 International Myeloma Society (IMS) Annual Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, Hans Lee, MD, director of myeloma research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discussed the provisional consensus definition of cure in multiple myeloma recently developed by IMS and the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG).

Lee said the effort was driven by readouts showing unprecedented depth and durability of response, particularly with CAR T-cell therapies such as ciltacabtagene autoleucel. He pointed to 5-year follow-up from the original phase 1b/2 CARTITUDE-1 study, in which roughly a third of treated patients remain alive with no evidence of relapse—data that he said pushed the field to ask whether patients with myeloma, long considered treatable but not curable, may in fact be cured.

Under the provisional criteria, cure requires a minimum of 5 years off all antimyeloma therapy, at least 4 serial measurable residual disease (MRD) assessments confirming negativity throughout that period, and negative functional imaging at both the start and end of the interval.

Lee outlined 2 implications of the framework. Because the definition hinges on sustained time off treatment, he said it strengthens the rationale for fixed-duration regimens over continuous therapy to progression. He also called the current criteria a starting point likely to be refined as more long-term data mature, but said the field needed a benchmark to build from.

"I think in myeloma, the time is now to really be thinking about cure, not just about control," Lee said.

For background on the full IMS/IMWG announcement, see our coverage: Global Experts Define Consensus Criteria for Cure in Multiple Myeloma.