The use of carfilzomib to treat extramedullary plasmacytoma and review of the literature

Abstract

A 61-year-old woman was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) (immunoglobulin G kappa type) in 2012. A bortezomib-based chemotherapy protocol was administered to the patient, and the patient underwent an autologous transplant. During lenalidomide maintenance therapy, she presented with anemia and extramedullary plasmacytomas (EMPs) with no bone marrow infiltration by clonal plasma cells. Her disease was in complete remission after six cycles of the carfilzomib-dexamethasone (KD) protocol. EMPs are seen in MM patients at the time of diagnosis or relapse. There is a challenge related to these patients' treatment schedules, as no consensus or standard treatment protocol has yet been defined. In this article, we present a case regarding the presentation of EMP relapse in a myeloma patient who is in remission after long-term carfilzomib therapy. We demonstrate that a KD treatment may be effective in patients with EMPs.

Keywords

• carfilzomib
• maintenance
• multiple myeloma
• plasmacytoma