Although the exact etiology of cutaneous angiosarcoma remains unclear, MYC gene amplification has been recently discovered as a new pathogenesis. MYC is a proto-oncogene, and aberration of MYC signaling in malignancies is associated with tumor metastasis, recurrence, and mortality. Moreover, upregulation of the miRNA polycistron, miR-17-92 cluster, were confirmed in both cutaneous angiosarcoma and multiple myeloma with MYC amplification. The correlation between MYC and miRNA expression is predictable as the coincident aberrant phenotype in two diseases. Moreover, the exploiting MYC dependency may be an attractive disease-specific strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of patients who are unaware of the causes of cutaneous angiosarcoma. Herein, a rare case of cutaneous angiosarcoma of the foot, which is also the first case of cutaneous angiosarcoma accompanied by multiple myeloma, has been described.
Diagnosis ; Foot ; Genes, myc ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; Mortality ; Multiple Myeloma ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Phenotype ; Proto-Oncogenes ; Recurrence ; Up-Regulation

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of a rehabilitation program in terms of De Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) score, in hematologic cancer patients after chemotherapy. METHODS: Hematologic cancer patients admitted for chemotherapy were reviewed. They received a rehabilitation program during their hospital stay. DEMMI score measurement was performed, before and after rehabilitation. Demographics, diagnosis, chemotherapy information, rehabilitation program duration, mortality, body mass index (BMI), and laboratory test results were collected. For analysis, patients were classified according to diagnosis (multiple myeloma, leukemia, and others), mortality, and additional chemotherapy. RESULTS: There was statistically significant improvement in DEMMI score of 10.1 points (95% confidence interval, 5.9–14.3) after rehabilitation. It was more evident in the multiple myeloma group, and they revealed less mortality. When patients were divided according to mortality, survivors received the program earlier, and in a shorter period than in mortality cases. Although survivors revealed higher initial DEMMI score, improvement after rehabilitation did not differ significantly. CONCLUSION: In hematologic cancer patients, rehabilitation program was effective for recovery from deconditioning, revealing significant increase in DEMMI score. Multiple myeloma patients may be good candidates for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation could be sustained during chemotherapy and for high-risk patients.
Body Mass Index ; Demography ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy* ; Hematology ; Humans ; Inpatients* ; Length of Stay ; Leukemia ; Mortality ; Multiple Myeloma ; Rehabilitation* ; Survivors

BACKGROUND: A change in urine output has been recently recognized as a valuable biomarker of acute kidney injury that is associated with mortality in critically ill patients. We investigated the prognostic impact of oliguria for survival outcomes in multiple myeloma (MM) patients presenting with renal impairment (RI). METHODS: Retrospective data on 98 patients with MM and RI, who received initial treatment with novel therapies, were analyzed. Oliguria was defined as a urine output of <0.5 mL/kg/h. RESULTS: The baseline median eGFR was 39.7 mL/min (range, 5.1-59.8). Achievement of renal complete response (CR) was observed in 39.8% of patients. Nine patients (9.2%) presented with oliguria at initial diagnosis, and 4 initially required dialysis. Over a median follow-up period of 17.1 months (range, 1.7-100.0), the median overall survival (OS) was 38.7 months (95% CI 25.0-52.5). Multivariate analyses indicated that oliguria at diagnosis [hazard ratio (HR) 3.628, 95% CI 1.366-9.849, P=0.011], and thrombocytopenia <100x10(9)/L at diagnosis (HR 2.534, 95% CI 1.068-6.015, P=0.035), were significantly associated with overall survival. CONCLUSION: Oliguria was significantly associated with higher mortality in MM patients with RI. Therefore, close monitoring of urine output could be important for these patients.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Critical Illness ; Diagnosis ; Dialysis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mortality* ; Multiple Myeloma* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Oliguria* ; Renal Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Thrombocytopenia

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Marrow Examination ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; complications ; diagnosis ; mortality ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: We reviewed patients with multiple myeloma (MM) in order to assess the incidence of genetic abnormalities and their associations with clinical parameters, risk groups, and prognosis. METHODS: A total of 130 patients with MM were enrolled. The incidences of genetic abnormalities were determined in all patients. The relationships of the genetic abnormalities and clinical parameters were investigated. In addition, a survival analysis was performed. RESULTS: Abnormal karyotypes were detected in 42.3% (N=55) of the patients, and this was increased to 63.1% (N=82) after including the results determined with interphase FISH. Hypodiploidy was observed in 7.7% (N=10) of the patients, and all were included in the group with complex karyotypes (30.8%, N=40). The 14q32 rearrangements were detected in 29.2% (N=38) of the patients, and these most commonly included t(11;14), which was followed by t(4;14) and t(14;16) (16.2%, 11.5%, and 0.8%, respectively). Abnormal karyotypes and complex karyotypes were associated with disease progression markers, including low hemoglobin levels, low platelet counts, high plasma cell burden, high beta2-microglobulin, and high international staging system stages. A high free light chain (FLC) ratio and FLC difference were associated with abnormal karyotypes, complex karyotypes, and higher plasma cell burden. Hypodiploidy and low platelet counts were significant independent prognostic factors and were more important in patient outcome than any single abnormality. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic abnormalities were associated with disease progression markers and prognosis of MM patients.
Aged ; *Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14 ; Female ; Hemoglobins/analysis ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/*diagnosis/*genetics/mortality ; Neoplasm Staging ; Platelet Count ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Survival Analysis ; Translocation, Genetic

BACKGROUND: Autologous peripheral hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) has been widely used to treat various types of hematological disorders, metabolic diseases and congenital immunodeficiency. Hematopoietic recovery is important because prolonged duration of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia is associated with a higher risk of infection, bleeding and treatment related mortality. Many investigators have studied the factors that affect hematopoietic recovery after stem cell transplantation. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the factors influencing hematopoietic engraftment in 112 patients with hematological malignancies and solid tumors who received APBSCT. We evaluated the gender, age, CD34+ cell number, conditioning regimens, and the type of tumor and their association with neutrophil and platelet engraftment. RESULTS: Post-transplant neutrophil engraftment (>500/microL) required a median of 11 days (range 6~50) and platelet engraftment 12 (range 1~78) days (>20,000/microL). The univariate analysis showed that the factors that positively affected hematopoietic recovery were: the type of conditioning regimens such as BEAM (BCNU, etoposide, cytosine arabinoside, melphalan) and BEAC (BCNU, etoposide, cytosine arabinoside, cyclophosphamide) versus BC (busulfan, cyclophosphamide), the CD34+ cell number and the disease diagnosis such as multiple myeloma versus acute myelogenous leukemia. The multivariate analysis showed only the CD34+ cell number (5~10 x 10(6)/kg) to be significantly associated with early neutrophil and platelet engraftment (P<.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that measurement of the CD34+ cell count may be sufficient to predict the time to engraftment after APBSCT.
Blood Platelets ; Cell Count ; Cytarabine ; Diagnosis ; Etoposide ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Metabolic Diseases ; Mortality ; Multiple Myeloma ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neutropenia ; Neutrophils ; Research Personnel ; Retrospective Studies ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Thrombocytopenia

BACKGROUND: Myelomatous pleural effusion (MPE) is rare in myeloma patients. We present a consecutive series of patients with MPE in a single institution. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 19 patients diagnosed with MPE between 1989 and 2008 at the Asan Medical Center. Diagnoses were confirmed by cytologic identification of malignant plasma cells in the pleural fluid. RESULTS: Our patients showed dominance of IgA (36.8%) and IgD (31.6%) subtypes. Of 734 myeloma patients, the incidence of MPE was remarkably high for the IgD myeloma subtype (16.7%), compared to the other subtypes (1.4% for IgG and 4.6% for IgA). At the time of diagnosis of MPE, elevated serum beta2-microglobulin, anemia, elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase, and elevated creatinine levels were found in 100%, 89.5%, 83.3%, and 57.9% of the patients, respectively. Approximately one-third (31.3%) of the patients had adenosine deaminase (ADA) activities in their pleural fluid exceeding the upper limit of the reported cutoff values for tuberculous pleural effusion (55.8 U/L). Chromosome 13 abnormality was seen in 77.8% of the tested patients. The median survival period from the development of MPE was 2.8 months. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MPE have aggressive clinical and laboratory characteristics. The preponderance of IgD myeloma in MPE patients is a noteworthy finding because IgD myeloma is a rare subtype. Elevated ADA activity in the pleural fluid is also noteworthy, and may be helpful for detecting MPE. Physicians treating myeloma patients should monitor the development of MPE and consider the possibility of a worse clinical course.
Adenosine Deaminase/metabolism ; Adult ; Aged ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 13 ; Creatine/blood ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A/metabolism ; Immunoglobulin D/metabolism ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/diagnosis ; Plasma Cells/pathology ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant/*diagnosis/mortality/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; beta 2-Microglobulin/blood

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is important for the proliferation and survival of multiple myeloma (MM) cells. Bone marrow (BM) microvessel density (MVD) is a useful marker of angiogenesis and is determined by immunohistochemical staining with anti-CD34 antibody. This study investigated the prognostic impact of MVD and demonstrated the relationship between MVD and previously mentioned prognostic factors in patients with MM. METHODS: The study included 107 patients with MM. MVD was assessed at initial diagnosis in a blinded manner by two hematopathologists who examined three CD34-positive hot spots per patient and counted the number of vessels in BM samples. Patients were divided into three groups according to MVD tertiles. Cumulative progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) curves, calculated by using Kaplan-Meier method, were compared among the three groups. Prognostic impact of MVD was assessed by calculating Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR). RESULTS: Median MVDs in the three groups were 16.8, 33.9, and 54.7. MVDs were correlated with other prognostic factors, including beta2-microglobulin concentration, plasma cell percentage in the BM, and cancer stage according to the International Staging System. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high MVD was an independent predictor of PFS (HR=2.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-5.42; P=0.013). PFS was significantly lower in the high MVD group than in the low MVD group (P=0.025). However, no difference was observed in the OS (P=0.428). CONCLUSIONS: Increased BM MVD is a marker of poor prognosis in patients newly diagnosed with MM. BM MVD should be assessed at the initial diagnosis of MM.
Aged ; Antigens, CD34/metabolism ; Bone Marrow/metabolism/*pathology ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Microvessels/*physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/*diagnosis/mortality ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Plasma Cells/cytology ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Regression Analysis ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: We comprehensively profiled cytogenetic abnormalities in multiple myeloma (MM) and analyzed the relationship between cytogenetic abnormalities of undetermined prognostic significance and established prognostic factors. METHODS: The karyotype of 333 newly diagnosed MM cases was analyzed in association with established prognostic factors. Survival analysis was also performed. RESULTS: MM with abnormal karyotypes (41.1%) exhibited high international scoring system (ISS) stage, frequent IgA type, elevated IgG or IgA levels, elevated calcium levels, elevated creatine (Cr) levels, elevated β2-microglobulin levels, and decreased Hb levels. Structural abnormalities in chromosomes 1q, 4, and 13 were independently associated with elevated levels of IgG or IgA, calcium, and Cr, respectively. Chromosome 13 abnormalities were associated with poor prognosis and decreased overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate that abnormalities in chromosomes 1q, 4, and 13 are associated with established factors for poor prognosis, irrespective of the presence of other concurrent chromosomal abnormalities. Chromosome 13 abnormalities have a prognostic impact on overall survival in association with elevated Cr levels. Frequent centromeric breakpoints appear to be related to MM pathogenesis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Calcium/blood ; *Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 13 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 ; Creatine/blood ; Female ; Hemoglobins/analysis ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A/blood ; Immunoglobulin G/blood ; Karyotyping ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/*diagnosis/genetics/mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlations between inflammatory factors-including absolute lymphocyte count, lactate dehydrogenase, beta2-microglobulin, albumin, C-reactive protein, and ferritin-and the prognosis for survival in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) treated with induction chemotherapy containing thalidomide and who underwent autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). METHODS: Data from patients at 13 university hospitals in South Korea were collected retrospectively between December 2005 and May 2013. RESULTS: The median age of the 232 patients was 57 years (range, 33 to 77) and the male to female ratio was 1.09:1. In the multivariate analysis, fewer than two combined abnormal inflammatory factors was the only independent prognostic factor for superior progression-free survival (relative risk [RR], 0.618; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.409 to 0.933; p = 0.022), and platelet count > 100 x 109/L and fewer than two combined abnormal inflammatory factors were independent prognostic factors for superior overall survival (RR, 4.739; 95% CI, 1.897 to 11.839; p = 0.001 and RR, 0.263; 95% CI, 0.113 to 0.612; p = 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with two or more than two combined inflammatory factors who were treated with thalidomide induction chemotherapy and who underwent ASCT showed significantly shorter survival compared to those with fewer than two combined inflammatory factors. These results could be helpful for predicting prognosis in patients with MM.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Biomarkers, Tumor/*blood ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Induction Chemotherapy ; Inflammation Mediators/*blood ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/blood/diagnosis/*drug therapy/immunology/mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Odds Ratio ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Thalidomide/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Time Factors ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome