Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 13;44(3):668-677.
doi: 10.5937/jomb0-55319.

Immunophenotypic characteristics and prognostic value of peripheral blood circulating plasma cells in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

Hong Chen  1 , Yuan Zhao  1 , Zhiyu Zhang  1 , Yan Xie  1 , Mulan Jin  1
Affiliations

Immunophenotypic characteristics and prognostic value of peripheral blood circulating plasma cells in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

Hong Chen et al. J Med Biochem. .

Abstract
in English, Serbian

Background: To investigate the immunophenotypic characteristics and prognostic value of peripheral blood circulating plasma cells (CPCs) in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM).

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on NDMM patients treated at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, between January 2020 and June 2023. A total of 57 patients were included, with a median age of 64 years, comprising 27 males. Forty-four patients were assigned to the higher CPCs group and 13 to the lower CPCs group. To compare the proportion of bone marrow plasma cells (BMPCs) between the two groups and to analyse the differences in the immunophenotypes of BMPCs and CPCs. Subsequently, the prognosis of the patients was analysed by COX.

Results: The percentage of BMPCs was significantly higher in the higher CPCs group compared to the lower CPCs group (53.07% vs. 15.23%, P<0.001). In the higher CPCs group, BMPCs exhibited decreased expression of CD56 and CD27 but increased expression of CD81 (all P<0.05). The median PFS in the lower CPCs group (17.6 months, 9.12-31.54) was significantly higher than that in the higher CPCs group (14.1 months, 5.08-26.12) (P=0.015). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified CPCs ≥ 0.0101% (HR=6.721, 95% CI: 3.891-11.224, P<0.001) as the independent prognostic factors for PFS.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates distinct immunophenotypic differences between the higher and lower CPCs groups in NDMM patients.

Uvod: Cilj je bio da se istraže imunofenotipske karakteristike i prognostička vrednost cirkulišućih plazma ćelija (CPC) u perifernoj krvi kod pacijenata sa novodijagnostikovanim multiplim mijelomom (NDMM).

Metode: Ova retrospektivna studija obuhvatila je NDMM pacijente lečene u Pekinškoj bolnici Chaoyang, Medicinskog fakulteta u glavnom gradu, izme|u januara 2020. i juna 2023. godine. Uključeno je ukupno 57 pacijenata, sa medianom starosti od 64 godine, od kojih 27 muškaraca. Četrdeset četiri pacijenta su svrstana u grupu sa višim nivoom CPC, dok je 13 pacijenata bilo u grupi sa nižim nivoom CPC. Upoređivan je procenat plazma ćelija u koštanoj srži (BMPC) između dve grupe, kao i razlike u imunofenotipu BMPC i CPC. Prognoza pacijenata analizirana je korišćenjem COX modela.

Rezultati: Procenat BMPC bio je značajno viši u grupi sa višim nivoom CPC u poređenju sa grupom sa nižim CPC (53,07% naspram 15,23%, P<0,001). U grupi sa višim nivoom CPC, BMPC su pokazale smanjenu ekspresiju CD56 i CD27, ali povećanu ekspresiju CD81 (sve P<0,05). Medijana preživljavanja bez progresije bolesti (PFS) bila je značajno viša u grupi sa nižim CPC (17,6 meseci, 9,12-31,54) u poređenju sa grupom sa višim CPC (14,1 mesec, 5,08-26,12) (P=0,015). Multivarijantna Cox regresiona analiza identifikovala je nivo CPC ≥0,0101% (HR=6,721, 95% CI: 3,891-11,224, P<0,001) kao nezavisni prognostički faktor za PFS.

Zaključak: Ova studija ukazuje na postojanje specifičnih imunofenotipskih razlika između pacijenata sa višim i nižim nivoom CPC u NDMM.

Keywords: circulating plasma cells; flow cytometry; immunophenotyping; multiple myeloma; prognosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in this work.Conflict of Interest: The authors stated that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Main flow of this study.
Figure 2
Figure 2. (A) Mature plasma cells diffusely distributed, with nuclear displacement and indistinct nucleoli (scale: 20 μm). (B) Immature plasma cells show a nodular distribution, with enlarged nuclei and prominent nucleoli (scale: 20 μm). (C) Plasma blast-like plasma cells are diffusely distributed, with large nuclei, central nucleoli, and dense chromatin (scale: 20 μm).
Figure 3
Figure 3. (A) Immunophenotypic comparison between bone marrow plasma cells (BMPCs) and circulating plasma cells (CPCs). ns P>0.05, *P<0.05, **P<0.01. (B) Positive correlation between the percentages of circulating plasma cells (CPCs) and bone marrow plasma cells (BMPCs).
Figure 4
Figure 4. (A) Kaplan-Meier survival curve for progression-free survival (PFS) between the higher CPCs and lower CPCs groups. (B) Kaplan-Meier survival curve for overall survival (OS) between the higher CPCs and lower CPCs groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Rajkumar S. Multiple myeloma: 2024 update on diagnosis, risk-stratification, and management. Am J Hematol. 2024;99(9):1802. doi: 10.1002/ajh.27422. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Firth J. Haematology: multiple myeloma. Clin Med (Lond) 2019;19(1):58. - PMC - PubMed
    1. van de Donk N, Pawlyn C, Yong K L. Multiple myeloma. Lancet. 2021;397(10272):410. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(21)00135-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kawano Y, Moschetta M, Manier S, Glavey S, Görgün G T, Roccaro A M, et al Targeting the bone marrow microenvironment in multiple myeloma. Immunol Rev. 2015;263(1):160. doi: 10.1111/imr.12233. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ghobrial I M. Myeloma as a model for the process of metastasis: implications for therapy. Blood. 2012;120(1):20. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources