Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Jul 28, 2021; 13(7): 223-226
Published online Jul 28, 2021. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v13.i7.223
Imaging in multiple myeloma: Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging?
Alberto Stefano Tagliafico
Alberto Stefano Tagliafico, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genova, Genova 16138, Italy
Author contributions: Tagliafico AS wrote this editorial.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Tagliafico has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Alberto Stefano Tagliafico, MD, Associate Professor, Staff Physician, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genova, Via Balbi, 5, Genova 16138, Italy. alberto.tagliafico@unige.it
Received: March 15, 2021
Peer-review started: March 15, 2021
First decision: April 6, 2021
Revised: April 10, 2021
Accepted: June 18, 2021
Article in press: June 18, 2021
Published online: July 28, 2021
Processing time: 134 Days and 13.6 Hours
Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common type of hematological disease with its incidence rising in the elderly. In MM, the extent of the bone disease increases both morbidity and mortality. The detection of lytic bone lesions on imaging, especially computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial to separate asymptomatic from symptomatic MM patients even when no clinical symptoms are present. Although radiology is essential in the staging and management of patients with MM there is still high variability in the choice between MRI and CT. In addition, there is still suboptimal agreement among readers. The potential of medical imaging in MM is largely under-evaluated: artificial intelligence, radiomics and new quantitative methods to report CT and MRI will improve imaging usage.

Keywords: Multiple myeloma; Imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Computed tomography; Quantitative imaging

Core Tip: Introduction of new quantitative scores and biomarkers to predict multiple myeloma (MM) prognosis, possibly outperforming current staging methods to create new reliable standards for disease prediction and monitoring is an opportunity for further research in MM imaging.