GLASGOW, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 30, 2026--
Multiple myeloma, long considered incurable, now has a rigorous definition of cure. The announcement led the International Myeloma Society’s (IMS) 23rd Annual Meeting, attended by over 4,000 people from more than 79 countries.
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Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, presented the definition developed by IMS and the International Myeloma Working Group. A patient may be considered cured after five years in complete remission without myeloma treatment, counted from when treatment ends. The criteria include at least four negative measurable residual disease (MRD) tests, including one at five years, sensitive enough to detect one myeloma cell in a million. Imaging must show no disease at the start and end.
“We are no longer debating whether cure is possible,” said Dr. Munshi, IMS’s immediate past president. “We are defining it rigorously, measuring it precisely, and expanding the number of patients who can achieve it.”
Breakthrough data presented at the meeting included:
Other sessions addressed blood-based monitoring, immune protection and the biology of high-risk disease. Bone marrow testing remains the standard for assessing residual disease.
IMS26 Abstracts Book: https://www.myelomasociety.org/publications/
On-demand meeting content: myelomasociety.org.
About the International Myeloma Society
The International Myeloma Society is the only global non-profit focused on myeloma research and clinical care. Representing thousands of experts across more than 75 countries, IMS accelerates cures, fosters collaboration, and transforms patient care. The organization emphasizes funding research (with $18.5 Million Provided) and advancing clinical care access in low-to-middle income countries.
Global Myeloma Experts Define Cure as New Approaches to Treatment Advance
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City artificially inflated its revenue by more than $1 billion over nearly a decade, circumventing fair-play rules that restricted rival clubs and allowing it to pad its roster with some of soccer’s biggest stars, an investigatory panel found in a bombshell report published Tuesday.
In what is widely viewed as the biggest scandal in Premier League history, the independent panel determined that the United Arab Emirates-backed team committed almost all of the 115-plus violations it was accused of during a period in which City changed the landscape of the world’s most popular soccer league. That included 80 from 2009-18 for alleged financial misdeeds and another 35 from 2018-23 for allegedly not cooperating with the investigation.
City’s alleged financial wrongdoing — made possible in part through what the league said were “sham” commercial deals — was worth more than 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion). Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the ruling showed City “systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade.”
“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history,” Masters said.
City now faces severe sanctions that could include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the league, causing heavy reputational damage to its Abu Dhabi ownership.
The Premier League said sanctions will be decided during a separate hearing held by the independent commission at an unspecified date.
City has always denied wrongdoing and said in a statement that it was “disappointed and surprised” by the ruling. It plans to appeal the verdict and said it would be “relentless” in its fight to clear its name, which would further drag out a case that has already run for more than three years.
Any appeal by City would have to be made by Friday, the league said.
In an internal video to City staff — obtained by broadcaster Sky News — the club's CEO, Ferran Soriano, went into detail about why he felt the verdict was wrong.
“This has gone on for so long that it is important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation: that the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi,” he said. “This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen."
The allegations first arose in 2018 from leaked club emails and documents, and the Premier League initiated its case more than three years ago. Tuesday’s findings come after it emerged last week that the accusations against City were expected to be upheld following an exhaustive process.
City is accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 — a span in which it emerged from the shadow of its crosstown rival, Manchester United, won three titles and signed some of the world’s best players, including Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne.
The violations included failing to provide accurate financial information and submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals out of Abu Dhabi, hiding payments and breaching financial rules established by the Premier League and UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, intended to keep clubs financially stable by not spending beyond their means.
On top of that, City faced many other charges of failing to cooperate with the investigation between 2018-23.
"An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period,” the league said, “and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation.”
Regarding the sponsorship deals, the league said: “Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs.
“The club,” the league added, “filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators.”
The purpose of City's “schemes” was to “artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million ($1.19 billion) during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules,” the league said.
The finding suggests that City’s rise to the top of the English game, fueled by investments from Abu Dhabi that delivered by its expensively assembled, star-studded squads, was achieved at least in part by evading the league’s financial regulations.
The panel's findings have plunged English soccer into chaos, with rival clubs calling for compensation for lost earnings and threatening to sue, and fans and even some other teams' players wondering whether City should be stripped of titles.
There’s also the question of whether City’s top stars, like Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, will stay at the club and what the future holds for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family who bought City in 2008 and has gone on to own a group of worldwide teams — under the City Football Group banner — including New York City FC and Melbourne City.
City has always maintained its innocence, saying in 2023 when the charges were laid that there was a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.”
Even over the weekend, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said there remained a ”confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence.”
The appeal could end up in the High Court in London if City feels the process in the case was unfair.
On Wednesday league officials in Australia said they’d wait to see how the fallout from Manchester City’s financial situation develops, believing it’s too early to raise concern around A-League club Melbourne City FC, which has been owned by the City Football Group since 2014. Since then Melbourne City has won the league in 2021 and 2025.
Australian Professional League chief executive Steve Rosich said the APL, which operates the top domestic men’s and women’s competitions, had never investigated Melbourne City regarding its financial matters.
“No it doesn’t concern us,” Rosich said. “There is further work to follow and findings to follow in the legal process, so we’ll consider that. The international football economy is intertwined, so all parties will be reviewing that.”
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
FILE - Manchester City fans wave the team's flag prior to the League Cup soccer match final between Aston Villa and Manchester City, at Wembley stadium, in London, England, Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Ian Walton, File)
FILE - A general view of the stadium ahead of the FA Cup third round soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at the Etihad stadium, Manchester, England, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
FILE - Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola lifts the English Premier League trophy after the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton, England, Sunday, May 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
FILE - Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan holds up the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, June 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
FILE - Flares and tape are let off as Manchester City's players celebrate on stage as fans watch the winners parade as the team celebrates winning the English Premier League title in Manchester, England, Monday, May 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
FILE - A groundsman disinfects a corner flag ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Burnley at Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, England, Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Martin Rickett,Pool, File)
FILE - A banner celebrating their title win is illuminated outside Manchester City's Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, May 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
FILE - The club logo decorates a corner flag before the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
