title: Ferritin as prognostic marker in multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous transplantation.
abstract: Serum ferritin reflects body iron stores, but this correlation is dissociated in inflammation. Ferritin has been shown to be prognostically relevant in breast cancer and in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In the present study, we evaluated the prognostic relevance of pretransplant ferritin levels in 137 patients with myeloma (median age: 56 years) subjected to autologous stem cell transplantation in our institution between 1994 and 2010. After completion of induction therapy, a minority of patients had increased β₂-microglobulin (β2M) (> 3.5 mg/L: 30.6%) or low albumin (≤ 3.5 g/dL: 6.8%). Median overall survival from transplantation was 83.9 months. Pretransplant ferritin level was an independent prognostic marker in multivariate analyses (including age and ferritin levels albumin) for progression-free and overall survival and retained prognostic significance in a stepwise backward regression. Iron-independent effects of ferritin in myeloma should be prospectively investigated in preclinical and clinical studies.
authors: Department of Medicine I, Center of Oncology, Hematology and Palliative Care , Wilhelminenspital, Vienna , Austria.
authors: Kathrin
authors: K
authors: Strasser-Weippl
authors: Heinz
authors: H
authors: Ludwig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D060828:Induction Chemotherapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005293:Ferritins
keywords: Pretransplant ferritin; myeloma; prognosis; survival; transplantation