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.
Clinical Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine 1, University Hospital Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Stefan
S
Wöhrer
Jutta
J
Ackermann
Catrin
C
Baldia
Sonja
S
Seidl
Markus
M
Raderer
Ingrid
I
Simonitsch
Johannes
J
Drach
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