Bortezomib-based Regimens Improve the Outcome of Patients with Primary or Secondary Plasma Cell Leukemia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

The management experience for plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is still limited by PCL’s rare incidence and aggressive course. The goal of this study was to further identify the efficacy of bortezomib-containing regimens for PCL in Chinese patients. In this study, 56 consecutive PCL patients [14 primary PCL (pPCL) and 42 secondary PCL (sPCL) cases] were retrospectively enrolled and 42/56 patients received bortezomib-based regimens (BBRs), including 10/14 pPCL and 32/42 sPCL patients. The patients’ survival data, clinical information, and safety data were collected and analyzed. In pPCL and sPCL patients, the overall response rate in the bortezomib group was 90.0% and 25.0%, respectively. The median progression-free survival from PCL diagnosis for pPCL and sPCL was 8.3 months vs. 2.9 months (p=0.043) and median overall survival (OS) from PCL diagnosis was 23.3 months vs. 4.0 months. The OS for patients receiving BBRs was significantly longer for both pPCL (8.3 vs. 1.2 months, p=0.002) and sPCL (4.3 vs. 1.1 months, p