Clinical outcomes of patients with plasma cell leukemia in the era of novel therapies and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation strategies: a single-institution experience

BackgroundPCL carries a poor prognosis and the optimal management remains unknown.Patients and MethodsTo evaluate the outcome of patients with PCL in the era of novel agents and innovative transplantation strategies, we conducted a review of patients with PCL who were treated at our institution from August 2003 to October 2009. Our primary endpoint was to determine overall survival, which was calculated from time of PCL diagnosis to death or last follow-up. Secondary endpoints included response rates and analyses regarding how the novel agents and presence of adverse cytogenetic analyses affected outcomes.ResultsWe identified 25 patients with PCL (13 with primary PCL pPCL], 12 with secondary PCL sPCL]) from our institution. Eighteen patients received bortezomib-based regimens, 19 received high-dose melphalan followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), and 6 underwent allogeneic HCT. The median overall survival for all patients was 23.6 months. Bortezomib-treated patients had a median survival of 28.4 months vs. 4.0 months for the non-bortezomib–treated group (P < .001).ConclusionsOur analysis suggests that patients with PCL who were treated with bortezomib and/or allogeneic HCT had improved outcomes.