A retrospective analysis of thirty-one cases of plasma cell leukemia from a single center in China.
OBJECTIVE
The study was undertaken to understand the characteristic of plasma cell leukemia (PCL) in China.


METHODS
We reviewed and compared medical data of 22 primary PCL, 9 secondary PCL and 461 multiple myeloma (MM) diagnosed at our institute from January 2000 to January 2008.


RESULTS
The median onset ages of primary and secondary PCL patients were 49.5 and 56 years, respectively. PCL patients presented with a low peripheral blood plasmacytosis, extensive involvement of visceral organs and poor residual bone marrow function, without severe renal insufficiency. Seventeen of twenty-one PCL patients had abnormal karyotypes, mostly complex and hypodiploid or pseudodiploid. The deletion of 13q was frequent in primary and secondary PCL (57.1 and 42.9%, respectively). There was a significant difference in survival among primary PCL, secondary PCL and MM (median 14, 2 and 37 months, respectively, p = 0.0000).


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, primary and secondary PCL are different disorders with distinct natural histories and survival.
Peijing
Qi
Q
Blood Disease Hospital and Institute of Hematology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Tianjin, China.
Yan
Xu
X
Yafei
Wang
W
Dehui
Zou
Z
Zengjun
Li
L
Junyuan
Qi
Q
Yaozhong
Zhao
Z
Lugui
Qiu
Q