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Published on: March 5, 2019
Novel type of clonally involved cytoplasmic immunoglobulin-negative cells in multiple myeloma: flow cytometric study
1Second Department of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
Insights
Researchers identified novel aneuploid Cyt-Ig-negative cells in multiple myeloma patients. These cells, clonally involved and prevalent in advanced stages, may drive disease progression and represent myeloma precursor cells.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Oncology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Multiple myeloma is a hematologic malignancy characterized by clonal plasma cells.
- Identifying myeloma precursor cells is crucial for understanding disease progression and developing targeted therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify myeloma cells and their potential precursor cells.
- To characterize novel cell populations within bone marrow samples of multiple myeloma patients.
Main Methods:
- Dual parameter flow cytometry analyzing DNA content and cytoplasmic immunoglobulin (Cyt-Ig).
- Study included bone marrow samples from 39 multiple myeloma patients, including 2 with plasma cell leukemia.
Main Results:
- Aneuploid myeloma cells were identified in 64.1% of patients.
- A subset of aneuploid Cyt-Ig-negative cells was found in patients with aneuploid myeloma.
- These aneuploid Cyt-Ig-negative cells were predominantly detected in Stage III myeloma, suggesting clonal involvement.
Conclusions:
- Aneuploid Cyt-Ig-negative cells may be clonally related to myeloma cells and contribute to disease progression.
- These cells represent a potential population of myeloma precursor cells.
- Further characterization of these cells could offer new therapeutic targets.
Abstract:
In order to identify myeloma cells and their precursor cells, we studied bone marrow samples from 39 patients with multiple myeloma, including 2 with plasma cell leukemia, using dual parameter cytometry of both DNA and cytoplasmic immunoglobulin (Cyt-Ig). Myeloma cells from 25 patients (64.1%) were aneuploid and those from the remaining 14 patients were diploid. In 25 patients with aneuploid myeloma, we found a small component of cells which had aneuploid DNA content without Cyt-Ig in addition to myeloma cells showing aneuploidy with Cyt-Ig. These aneuploid Cyt-Ig-negative cells were considered to be clonally involved because they were aneuploid, and detected predominantly in patients with stage III myeloma. This suggests that these cells may contribute to disease progression. The characteristics of these cells are described and the relationship between these cells and myeloma precursor cells is discussed.
