title: Early lymphocyte recovery predicts longer survival after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma.
abstract: To understand the prognostic value of lymphocyte recovery after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT), we performed a retrospective study of 59 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients who underwent frontline APBSCT. Conditioning regimens were melphalan 100 mg/m(2) for 2 days. Following APBSCT, all patients showed complete or partial response. Median follow-up time was 29.57 months and median recovery of absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) > or =1000/mm(3) was 23 days. Univariate analysis revealed that significant predictors of overall survival (OS) included bone marrow (BM) plasma cells < or =40% at diagnosis (P=0.0243) and recovery of ALC > or =1000/mm(3) by day +23 (P=0.0156). Positive predictors for progression-free survival (PFS) were BM plasma cells < or =40% at diagnosis (P=0.0134) and recovery of ALC > or =1000/mm(3) by day +23 (P=0.0243). Absolute neutrophil count > or =1000/mm(3) on day +12 was marginally significant for OS and PFS (P=0.0821 and P=0.1153, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that ALC > or =1000/mm(3) on day +23 independently predicted OS (P=0.031) and prolonged PFS (P=0.011), and that serum beta2-microglobulin was marginally significant for prolonged OS (P=0.066). In conclusion, ALC recovery was an independent predictor of both OS and PFS in MM.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J-S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W-K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D036102:Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous