Abstract
We detected circulating plasma cells (PCs) by flow cytometry in 302 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) by gating on CD38 +CD45- cells. The number of circulating PCs per 50 000 mononuclear cells was reported. In 80 (27%) patients, no circulating PC were seen; 106 (35%) patients had 1 to 10 and 115 (38%) patients had more than 10 circulating PCs. Median overall survival for the 302 patients was 47 months. Patients with 10 or fewer circulating PCs had a median survival of 58.7 months, whereas patients with more than 10 circulating PCs had a median survival of 37.3 months (P = .001). On multivariate analysis, the prognostic value of circulating PCs was independent of β2-microglobulin, albumin, and C-reactive protein. There was only a weak correlation between tumor mass and circulating PCs, suggesting that the appearance of circulating PCs may be a reflection of tumor biology. We conclude that the number of circulating PCs measured by flow cytometry in patients with newly diagnosed MM is an independent predictor of survival.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2276-2279 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Blood |
Volume | 106 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2005 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Immunology
- Hematology
- Cell Biology