LWBK1006-34 LWW-Govindan-Review November 24, 2011 11:25
Chapter 34•Plasma Cell Neoplasms 473May;145(4):540–542). It was identified that older age, African American
race, and extramedullary plasmacytomas were all associated with worse
survival. As per the recent IMWG consensus guidelines (Dimopoulos
et al. Blood. 2011;117:4701–4705) MRI of spine is part of the mandatory
workup of patients with solitary plasmacytoma.Answer 34.11. The answer is C.
The diagnostic criterion for plasma cell leukemia is a plasma cell count of
more than 2000 if the WBC is less than 10,000 or 20% plasma cells if the
WBC is less than 10,000. A large retrospective study using the SEER
database (Ramsingh et al. Cancer. 2009 Dec 15;115(24):5734–5739)
reported no improvement in survival of patients with plasma cell leukemia
between 1973 and 2004. The same study also reported that the sex ratio
was equal in plasma cell leukemia. Autologous stem cell transplanta-
tion can be useful therapy even in patients with plasma cell leukemia.
A large retrospective study of patients from European Group for
Blood and Marrow Transplantation (Haematologica. 2010 May;95(5):
804–809) showed a median OS of 25.7 months that is significantly higher
than historical controls treated with conventional therapy.