CONSOLIDATION THERAPY WITH AUTOLOGOUS STEM-CELL TRANSPLANTATION IN PLASMA-CELL LEUKEMIA AFTER VAD, HIGH-DOSE CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE AND EDAP COURSES - A REPORT OF 3 CASES AND A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder char acterized by a malignant proliferation of plasma cells in blood and bo ne marrow, Treatment of primary PCL has been mostly disappointing, Thr ee patients with primary PCL are described who received high-dose melp halan with autologous PBSC support after vincristine, doxorubicine and dexamethasone (VAD), high-dose cyclophosphamide, and etoposide, cispl atinum, dexamethasone and cytosine arabinoside (EDAP) courses, All pat ients were in CR posttransplantation, One patient relapsed after 3 mon ths; the other patients are still in CR, after 14 and 26 months, respe ctively, These results in conjunction with data from the literature su ggest that intensive chemotherapy for PCL is promising.