Prevalence and clinicopathologic characteristics of multiple myeloma with cutaneous involvement: A case series from Korea

Publication date: Available online 6 November 2017
Source:Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Author(s): Yu Ri Woo, Jong Sic Kim, Ji Hong Lim, Sewon Hwang, Miri Kim, Jung Min Bae, Young Min Park, Chang-Ki Min, Dong-Wook Kim, Hyun Jeong Park
BackgroundMultiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell dyscrasia characterized by the presence of a clonal proliferation of tumor cells. Cutaneous involvement of MM is very rare and remains poorly understood.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the clinical and histopathologic characteristics of cutaneous involvement in MM and identify factors associated with overall survival of MM with cutaneous involvement.MethodsThe medical records of 1228 patients with MM were retrieved and analyzed. Of those patients, 14 with cutaneous involvement of MM (1.14%) were further evaluated for their clinical and histopathologic findings.ResultsPatients with cutaneous involvement showed significantly reduced overall survival compared with those without cutaneous involvement (median, 28 vs. 57 months; hazard ratio, 1.929; 95% confidence interval, 1.030-3.613). In subgroup analyses of patients with MM with cutaneous involvement, erythematous nodules (P = .004), multiple cutaneous lesions (P = .002), and absence of a grenz zone (P = .004) were clinicopathologic features associated with reduced overall survival after Bonferroni correction.LimitationsThe retrospective design and the small sample size are the limitations.ConclusionCutaneous involvement accounted for about 1.14% of patients with MM and was associated with reduced overall survival.