Abstract

Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is a rare and very aggressive plasma cell disorder. The optimal treatment approach, including whether to pursue an autologous (autoSCT) or allogeneic (alloSCT) transplant is not clear as there is lack of clinical trial based evidence. This single center retrospective study describes the outcomes of 16 patients with PCL (N=14 primary PCL) who underwent either autoSCT (N=9) or alloSCT (N=7) for PCL in the era of novel agents, between 2007 and 2019. Median age of the cohort was 58 years. High-risk cytogenetics were seen in 50% of patients. All patients received a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and/or immunomodulatory drug (IMiD) based regimen before transplant. At transplant, 10 (62%) patients obtained at least a very good partial response. Response after autoSCT (3 month) was at least VGPR in 6 (67%, CR=5) patients. All patients undergoing alloSCT achieved CR at 3 months. Maintenance was used in 5 patients (56%) after autoSCT. Median PFS from transplant in the autoSCT vs. alloSCT group was 6 vs. 18 months, p=0.09, while median OS from transplant was 19 vs. 40 months (p=0.41), respectively. The median OS from diagnosis was 27 vs. 49 months, p=0.50, respectively. Of all the deaths, 10 (91%) patients died of relapsed disease. In conclusion, alloSCT was not observed to offer any significant survival advantage over autoSCT in PCL, which is comparable to other recent reports and relapse remains the primary cause of death.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.bbmt.2020.08.035

View details for PubMedID 32961371