Effective treatment of primary plasma cell leukemia with thalidomide and dexamethasone - a case report.
Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is an aggressive disease with poor prognosis and a median survival of only 2-6 months. Currently, no standard therapy is available, but intensive polychemotherapy appears to be more effective than the conventional melphalan plus prednisone. However, the efficacy of thalidomide in PCL has not yet been widely evaluated. Recently, treatment with thalidomide has been reported to yield promising results in refractory multiple myeloma. Here, we report on a patient with primary PCL in whom first-line treatment with thalidomide/dexamethasone resulted in a rapid response and achievement of a very good partial remission.
Wöhrer
Stefan
S
Clinical Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine 1, University Hospital Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Ackermann
Jutta
J
Baldia
Catrin
C
Seidl
Sonja
S
Raderer
Markus
M
Simonitsch
Ingrid
I
Drach
Johannes
J
D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007952:Leukemia, Plasma Cell / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D013792:Thalidomide; D003907:Dexamethasone