# IMWG response criteria for myeloma (2016, with MRD)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/imwg-response-criteria/  
OnCo record `imwg-response-criteria` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The International Myeloma Working Group criteria grade how well myeloma has responded, from partial response to complete response and, deeper still, no detectable myeloma cells in the marrow (MRD negativity).

## Summary

Myeloma response was defined by monoclonal protein in blood and urine and by bone marrow examination, which is relatively insensitive. With new drugs giving high complete response rates, the International Myeloma Working Group (Kumar and colleagues, Lancet Oncology 2016) defined deeper categories of minimal residual disease negativity, measured by flow cytometry or sequencing of the marrow, with or without imaging showing no disease outside the marrow, for uniform reporting inside and outside trials.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: IMWG response criteria; IMWG 2016; IMWG criteria; imaging MRD negativity

## Sources

- Kumar et al., International Myeloma Working Group consensus criteria for response and minimal residual disease assessment in multiple myeloma (Lancet Oncol 2016): https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(16)30206-6

## Connected records

- terms: [Complete response (CR) and partial response (PR)](https://onco.cc/terms/complete-response-term/), [Durie-Salmon staging of myeloma](https://onco.cc/terms/durie-salmon/), [IWWM response criteria (Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia)](https://onco.cc/terms/iwwm-response/), [MRD negativity (myeloma, 10⁻⁵ / 10⁻⁶)](https://onco.cc/terms/mrd-negativity-myeloma/), [MY-RADS (whole-body MRI in myeloma)](https://onco.cc/terms/my-rads/), [R-ISS / R2-ISS staging](https://onco.cc/terms/r-iss/)
- cancers: [Multiple myeloma](https://onco.cc/cancers/multiple-myeloma/)
- key papers: [International Myeloma Working Group consensus criteria for response and minimal residual disease assessment in multiple myeloma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-kumar-lancet-oncol/)

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