More Than 2% of Circulating Tumor Plasma Cells Defines Plasma Cell Leukemia-Like Multiple Myeloma.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Primary plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is the most aggressive monoclonal gammopathy. It was formerly characterized by ≥ 20% circulating plasma cells (CTCs) until 2021, when this threshold was decreased to ≥ 5%. We hypothesized that primary PCL is not a separate clinical entity, but rather that it represents ultra-high-risk multiple myeloma (MM) characterized by elevated CTC levels.

Methods

We assessed the levels of CTCs by multiparameter flow cytometry in 395 patients with newly diagnosed transplant-ineligible MM to establish a cutoff for CTCs that identifies the patients with ultra-high-risk PCL-like MM. We tested the cutoff on 185 transplant-eligible patients with MM and further validated on an independent cohort of 280 transplant-ineligible patients treated in the GEM

SUBMITTER: Jelinek T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9995102 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature