Table 2.

MS assays for measuring PB MRD

AssayTypePlatformSensitivity Examples of trials in which assay has been usedComments
Mass-Fix (Mayo Clinic) Intact light chain MALDI-TOF <0.01 g/dL42  STaMINA56  Commercially available through Mayo Clinic reference laboratory; has replaced SPEP/IFX in their workflow42,43  
Exent (Thermo Fisher, previously known as QIP-MS) Intact light chain MALDI-TOF 0.0015 g/dL46  GEM2012MENOS65,57,58 GMMG-MM5,59 ATLAS,60 GEM-CESAR,61 and Derman et al62  Can be automated for high throughput
Platform commercially available in Europe; availability in the United States pending 
LC-MS Intact light chain LC-MS 0.0001 g/dL48   Can reflex off of Exent-negative samples
Not commercially available 
EasyM (Rapid Novor) Clonotypic peptide LC-MS 5.8 × 10−5 g/dL53  MCRN-001,53 MM19, and MM2168  Commercially available in the United States 
M-Insight (Sebia) Clonotypic peptide LC-MS 1 × 10−5 g/dL54  IFM 200969,70  Commercially available in the United States 
AssayTypePlatformSensitivity Examples of trials in which assay has been usedComments
Mass-Fix (Mayo Clinic) Intact light chain MALDI-TOF <0.01 g/dL42  STaMINA56  Commercially available through Mayo Clinic reference laboratory; has replaced SPEP/IFX in their workflow42,43  
Exent (Thermo Fisher, previously known as QIP-MS) Intact light chain MALDI-TOF 0.0015 g/dL46  GEM2012MENOS65,57,58 GMMG-MM5,59 ATLAS,60 GEM-CESAR,61 and Derman et al62  Can be automated for high throughput
Platform commercially available in Europe; availability in the United States pending 
LC-MS Intact light chain LC-MS 0.0001 g/dL48   Can reflex off of Exent-negative samples
Not commercially available 
EasyM (Rapid Novor) Clonotypic peptide LC-MS 5.8 × 10−5 g/dL53  MCRN-001,53 MM19, and MM2168  Commercially available in the United States 
M-Insight (Sebia) Clonotypic peptide LC-MS 1 × 10−5 g/dL54  IFM 200969,70  Commercially available in the United States 

Bottom-up (clonotypic peptide) methods are generally more sensitive than top-down (intact light chain) approaches. To achieve this performance, bottom-up approaches require a baseline sample to determine the monoclonal protein sequence to follow. Top-down approaches (intact light chain) offer improved turnaround time and do not require a baseline sample. Adapted from Yee.71 

For comparison, SPEP/IFX has a sensitivity of 0.01 g/dL.

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