Abstract:

Objective·To investigate the effects of bortezomib on efficacy and prognosis in CD56 negative multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Methods·One hundred and sixty newly diagnosed MM patients were enrolled in this study. The immunophenotypes of myeloid cells were examined by flow cytometry before treatment. The patients were assigned to two groups based on treatment regimen. One hundred and ten cases received bortezomib based treatment (bortezomib group) and 50 cases received non-bortezomib regimens (non-bortezomib group). The efficacy in the two groups was observed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) and determine the association between relevant factors and the prognosis. Results·There was no statistical difference between CD56 positive and negative patients in terms of PFS (P=0.159), but the difference in OS was statistically significant (P=0.013). CD56 negative patients had poor prognosis. No difference was observed in PFS between bortezomib and non-bortezomib groups (P=0.26), but bortezomib group had significantly higher OS than non-bortezomib group (P=0.02). No statistical difference was found in PFS between CD56 positive and negative patients in non-bortezomib group (P=0.16), while the difference in OS was statistically significant (P=0.04). The differences in PFS and OS between CD56 positive and negative patients in bortezomib group were not statistically significant (P=0.50 for PFS; P=0.15 for OS). Conclusion·CD56 can be a prognosis factor for MM. CD56 negative MM patients may have poor prognosis. Bortezomib may improve the prognosis of CD56 negative MM patients.

Key words: multiple myeloma, CD56, bortezomib