Chromosome studies in plasma cell leukemia and multiple myeloma in transformation

Four patients with plasma cell leukemia (PCL) and two with multiple myeloma (MM) in transformation had complex numerical and structural chromosome abnormalities. From data published in the literature, the cytogenetic patterns of 46 cases of PCL or MM in the leukemic phase are compared with chromosomal abnormalities found in MM. Although the spectrum of chromosomal abnormalities is comparable in both diseases, the incidence of chromosome abnormalities is higher in PCL than in MM. Hypodiploidy with monosomies for chromosomes 13, 16, 17, and 18 is also more frequent in PCL than in MM. A mutation within the TP53 gene was detected in one of the three patients studied molecularly.