Sandbox/am

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Plasma cell myeloma is a monoclonal neoplastic proliferation of plasma cells of bone-marrow derivation, usually multicentric, that eventually infiltrates various organs but rarely produces plasma cell leukaemia. It is characterized by osteolytic lesions, bone pain, hypercalcemia, a monoclonal gammopathy, and disorders due to depositon of abnormal immunoglobulin chains (amyloid) in various tissues including kidney. It ranges from MGUS to plasmacytoma to multiple myeloma. Solitary plasmacytoma is a rare plasma cell disorder, accounting for 2–10% of plasma cell disorders. It is classified as either solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma (SEP) or solitary bone plasmacytoma. The head and neck are the predominant sites for SEP, and only a small number are associated with serum Most extramedullary plasmacytomas respond to local radiotherapy and have a good prognosis. Although the most common plasma cell dyscrasia is monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), closely related disorders include multiple myeloma, solitary plasmacytoma of bone, extramedullary plasmacytoma, waldenstorm's macroglobulinemia, Amyloidosis, light chain deposition disease, paraproteinemia and heavy chain disease.,. The spectrum of MGUS, solitary plasmacytoma of bone, and asymptomatic and symptomatic multiple myeloma may actually represent a natural progression of the same disease.