Long-term survival consequent on the abscopal effect in a patient with multiple myeloma

Abstract

The abscopal effect is a term that has been used to describe the phenomenon of tumour regression in sites distant from targeted fields of irradiation. It has been reported in multiple malignancies and is thought to be due to a systemic immune response that radiation elicits in the treated individual. We describe the case of a female patient who originally presented with advanced multiple myeloma in 1996 at the age of 50. She failed multiple chemotherapeutic regimens including high-dose melphalan with autologous stem cell transplantation. Subsequently, the patient achieved a sustained complete remission, after receiving palliative radiotherapy to a symptomatic gastric plasmacytoma. She has remained in remission for >15 years. To the best of our knowledge, this case represents the first report of an abscopal effect against multiple myeloma.

Figure 1

A timeline of the highlights in the course of the disease from diagnosis to remission. ASCT, autologous stem cell transplant; IFN-α, interferon α; MM, multiple myeloma.

Figure 2

A histogram of the serum IgG levels (A) from the time of diagnosis until remission and (B) from the time of diagnosis, over the course of the disease, to date.