Certain patients with multiple myeloma often have poorer outcomes, according to a recent meta-analysis.
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The clinical significance and prognostic role of circulating plasma cells in multiple myeloma remain unclear, according to Jia Li, department of laboratory medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (China), and colleagues. In their recent analysis, they sought to further evaluate the impact of circulating plasma cells (published online July 13, 2017; doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181447).
Data on the 11 studies and 2943 patients included in the analysis were first obtained through the PubMed, Embase, Medline, CNKI (Chinese) and Web of Science databases. Study periods ranged between 1950 and 2016. The 11 studies focused on the associations between circulating plasma cell status and clinicopathological features or survival outcomes in patients with multiple myeloma.
Researchers assessed the relationship between circulating plasma cells and survival rate, using certain clinicopathological parameters like International staging system (ISS) and Durie-Salm staging system (DS) stage. They also determined hazard ratios (HRs) for survival with 95% CIs and performed subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias.
Results of the study indicated that the presence of circulating plasma cells was related to aggressive disease progression and reduced overall survival. In addition, patients who tested positive for circulating plasma cells had poor disease progression and overall survival in detection methods and sampling time subsets. The researchers also noted that the presence of circulating plasma cells in multiple myeloma was significantly associated with increased ISS stage. However, the same effect was not observed with DS stage.
“Regardless of whether circulating plasma cells are detected in an early stage or in relapse patients, circulating plasma cell status may serve as a useful tool to guide the prognosis of multiple myeloma patients,” the researchers concluded. Further prospective studies designed with larger sample sizes and unified detection methods are needed.—Christina Vogt
