Plasma cell leukaemia (PCL) is a rare and very aggressive plasma cell disorder. Preventing a dismal outcome of PCL requires early diagnosis with appropriate analytical tools. Therefore, the investigation of 33 patients with primary and secondary PCL was done when the quantity of circulating plasma cells (PCs) using flow cytometry (FC) and morphology assessment was evaluated. The phenotypic profile of the PCs was also analysed to determine if there is an association with clinical outcomes and to evaluate the prognostic value of analysed markers. Our results revealed that FC is an excellent method for identifying circulating PCs as a significantly higher number was identified by FC than by morphology (26·7% vs. 13·5%, P = 0·02). None of secondary PCL cases expressed CD19 or CD20. A low level of expression with similar positivity of CD27, CD28, CD81 and CD117 was found in both PCL groups. A decrease of CD44 expression was detected only in secondary PCL. Expression of CD56 was present in more than half of PCL cases as well as cytoplasmic nestin. A decreased level of platelets, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score of 2-3 and lack of CD20+ PC were associated with a higher risk of death. FC could be incorporated in PCL diagnostics not only to determine the number of circulating PCs, but also to assess their phenotype profile and this information should be useful in patients' diagnosis and possible prognosis.

Babak Myeloma Group Department of Pathophysiology Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Clinical Hematology University Hospital Brno Brno Czech Republic

Department of Hematooncology University Hospital Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic

Department of Internal Medicine Hematology and Oncology University Hospital Brno Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

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MicroRNA Profiling of Bone Marrow Plasma Extracellular Vesicles in Multiple Myeloma, Extramedullary Disease, and Plasma Cell Leukemia

More Than 2% of Circulating Tumor Plasma Cells Defines Plasma Cell Leukemia-Like Multiple Myeloma