| Abstract: | The bone marrow of 48 patients with multiple myeloma was studied prior to therapy. A relationships was established between cluster formation rate, on the one hand, and the numbers of myelocaryocytes, erythrocytes and circulating immune complexes, on the other. In patients with stage III disease, the diminished cellularity of the marrow was due to decreased levels of granulocytes and normocytes. Moreover, those patients revealed fewer erythroclastic marrow clusters. Similar changes in the granulocytic component of hemopoiesis were present in those who died within earlier stages (20 months) after the beginning of therapy. It is suggested that diminished granulocyte pool alongside reduced cluster formation rate may play a role in infectious complication development. |
