Telomere shortening in patients with plasma cell disorders.

Objectives: Telomeres are essential for maintaining chromosomal integrity; their shortening is associated with chromosome instability. The aim of this work was to study telomere length (TL) on bone marrow (BM) cells from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS).

Methods: Thirty-one MM patients: 12 at diagnosis (D), 11 at relapse (R) and eight at remission (RE) and two cases with MGUS were studied.