BACKGROUND: Metastatic pathological fractures of the spine are a major problem for cancer patients; however, there is no consensus on treatment strategy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate various treatment options by analyzing their patterns for metastatic pathological fractures of the spine. METHODS: In this study, 54 patients (male:female = 36:18) who were diagnosed with metastatic pathological fractures of spine were recruited. Demographic data, origin of cancer, type of treatment, and results were obtained from electronic medical records. Treatment options were divided into radiotherapy (RT), vertebroplasty (VP) or kyphoplasty (KP), operation (OP), and other treatments. Treatment results were defined as aggravation, no response, fair response, good response, and unknown. The survival time after detection of pathologic fractures was analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 62.3 years. Hepatocellular carcinoma was the most common cancer of primary origin (n = 9), followed by multiple myeloma (n = 8). RT was the most common primary choice of treatment (n = 29, 53.7%), followed by OP (n = 13, 24.1%), and VP or KP (n = 10, 18.5%). Only 13 of 29 RT cases and 7 of 13 OP cases demonstrated a fair or good response. The mean survival time following detection of pathological spinal fractures was 11.1 months for 29 patients, who died during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: RT was the most common primary choice of treatment for metastatic pathological fractures of the spine. However, the response rate was suboptimal. Although OP should be considered for the relief of mechanical back pain or neurologic symptoms, care should be taken in determining the surgical indication. VP or KP could be considered for short-term control of localized pain, although the number of cases was too small to confirm the conclusion. It is difficult to determine the superiority of the treatment modalities, hence, a common guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of metastatic pathological fractures of the spine is required.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/mortality/pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/mortality/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/mortality/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fractures/etiology/mortality/*radiotherapy/*surgery ; Spinal Neoplasms/*complications/secondary ; Spine ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDPrevious studies found a range of prognostic factors but no consensus about the proper staging system for multiple myeloma has been achieved. This study explored the prognostic factors to find a staging system for multiple myeloma most suitable for Chinese patients.

METHODSBetween February 1990 to August 2004, 206 patients (138 men and 68 women, mean aged (59 +/- 11) years) who were initially diagnosed as multiple myeloma in Changzheng Hospital (Shanghai, China) and had followup records were enrolled in this study. Potential prognostic factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Four staging systems were applied to compare their suitability for the patients.

RESULTSThe median survival time of the patients was 33 months. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 80.18%, 48.08% and 33.7% respectively. Factors identified as adversely affecting survival were older age, severe bone lesions, low haemoglobin, low platelet, low serum calcium, low serum albumin, high proportion of plasma cells in marrow, high serum creatinine, high serum beta(2) microglobulin and high C-reactive protein. Among these, only C-reactive protein, beta(2) microglobulin, albumin and age were the independent prognostic factors. There were statistically significant survival differences among the three groups in Durie Salmon staging system and Bataille staging system, but not in British Medical Research Council staging system or International Staging System.

CONCLUSIONSHigh beta(2) microglobulin, high C-reactive protein, low albumin and old age are independent prognostic factors of multiple myeloma. Bataille staging system appears to be optimal for Chinese multiple myeloma patients.

Adult ; Aged ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; blood ; mortality ; pathology ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has become the treatment of choice for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Studies have shown that maintenance treatment with interferon-alpha is associated with improved survival rates following ASCT. However, despite these recent advances in regimes, relapses are inevitable; thus, the prediction of relapse following ASCT requires assessment. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 39 patients who received ASCT between 2003 and 2008. All patients received chemotherapy with vincristine, adriamycin, and dexamethasone (VAD), and ASCT was performed following high-dose melphalan conditioning therapy. We evaluated the influence of the post-transplant day +14 (D+14) bone marrow plasma cell percent (BMPCp) (> or = 2 vs. < 2%), international scoring system (ISS) stage (II vs. III), response after 3 cycles of VAD therapy (complete response [CR] vs. non-CR), deletion of chromosome 13q (del[13q]) (presence of the abnormality vs. absence), and BMPCp at diagnosis (> or = 50 vs. < 50%) on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: During the median follow-up of 28.0 months, the median PFS and OS were 29.1 and 42.1 months, respectively. By univariate analysis, ISS stage III at diagnosis, BMPCp > or = 50% at diagnosis, CR after 3 cycles of VAD therapy, del (13q) by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and BMPCp > or = 2% at post-transplant D+14 were correlated with PFS and OS. A multivariate analysis revealed that a post-transplant D+14 BMPCp > or = 2% (PFS, hazard ratio [HR] = 4.426, p = 0.008; OS, HR = 3.545, p = 0.038) and CR after 3 cycles of VAD therapy (PFS, HR = 0.072, p = 0.014; OS, HR = 0.055, p = 0.015) were independent prognostic parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Post-transplant D+14 BMPCp is a useful parameter for predicting the outcome for patients with MM receiving ASCT.
Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow/*pathology ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; *Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/mortality/pathology/*therapy ; Plasma Cells/*pathology ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation, Autologous

Although high-dose therapy (HDT) with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is widely accepted as an effective and safe consolidation therapy for multiple myeloma (MM), few reports on its efficacy are available in Korea. We present the results of a prospective phase II study, involving 33 patients with MM treated with HDT with ASCT. The treatment consisted of 4 courses of VAD (vincristine, adriamycin, dexamethasone) induction, peripheral blood stem cell collection, and high-dose melphalan with stem cell infusion. The overall response rate was 93%, with 45% of patients having complete responses. The toxicity was predictable and tolerable. With a median follow-up of 27.6 months, the 2-year event free survival rate was 43%. At the time of writing, the median overall survival duration had not been reached with 2-year survival and projected 3-year survival rates of 81% and 74%, respectively. The overall survival was significantly better than that of the historical control patients (N=82) treated with conventional chemotherapy at our institution. The results suggest that HDT with ASCT is a valuable first or second-line treatment for patients with MM.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Human ; Male ; Melphalan/*therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/mortality/pathology/*therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; *Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation, Autologous

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

Multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) allows discrimination between normal and neoplastic plasma cells (NeoPCs) within the bone marrow plasma cell (BMPC) compartment. This study sought to characterize immunophenotypes and quantitate the proportion of NeoPCs in BMPCs to diagnose plasma cell myeoma (PCM) and evaluate the prognostic impact of this method. We analyzed the MFC data of the bone marrow aspirates of 76 patients with PCM and 33 patients with reactive plasmacytosis. MFC analysis was performed using three combinations: CD38/CD138/-/CD45; CD56/CD20/CD138/CD19; and CD27/CD28/CD138/CD117. The plasma cells of patients with reactive plasmacytosis demonstrated normal immunophenotypic patterns. Aberrant marker expression was observed in NeoPCs, with negative CD19 expression observed in 100% of cases, CD56+ in 73.7%, CD117+ in 15.2%, CD27- in 10.5%, CD20+ in 9.2%, and CD28+ in 1.3%. In PCM patients, more than 20% of NeoPCs/BMPCs were significantly associated with factors suggestive of poor clinical outcomes. Patients who were CD27- or CD56+/CD27-, demonstrated shorter overall survival than patients of other CD56/CD27 combinations. Our results support the clinical value of immunophenotyping and quantifying NeoPCs in PCM patients. This strategy could help to reveal poor prognostic categories and delineate surrogate markers for risk stratification in PCM patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antigens, CD27/metabolism ; Antigens, CD56/metabolism ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bone Marrow Cells/*cytology/metabolism ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; *Immunophenotyping ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/metabolism/mortality/*pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplastic Stem Cells/*cytology/metabolism ; Prognosis ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors

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