[LauraB]

Extramedullary disease vs. amyloidosis

by LauraB on Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:22 am

Can someone please explain the differ­ence between extra­medullary disease and amy­loid­osis?

My husband has a liver plasmacytoma. He's IgA kappa with normal cytogenetics and recently relapsed, developing a liver plasmacytoma composed of CD138 and CD79a cells, negative for pankeratin, S-100 and melan A. The biopsy material was composed entirely of sheets of plasmacytoid cells associated with spotty foci of moderate to marked nuclear pleomorphism.

His liver function is normal.

I'm not sure I understand the distinct differences between extramedullary disease and amyloidosis and how his liver plasmacytoma is classified under those two categories. I would like to understand this, and how it might relate to his potential to qualify for clinical trials at some point in the future.

[Little Monkey]

Re: Extramedullary disease vs. amyloidosis

by Little Monkey on Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:45 pm

A plasmacytoma is a neoplasm (tumor). A single plasmacytoma is usually treated with surgery and/or radiation. There are (or were) some clinical trials to see if chemotherapy would have an effect on the average amount of time a plasmacytoma patient would become a myeloma patient.