IMMUNE DISTURBANCES IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE MYELOMA

Abstract

Abstract. A study of cell and humoral immune indices was carried out in forty-five pre-treated patients with multiple myeloma. Imbalance in T:B lymphocyte ratio was revealed, due to increased CD3+ cells and decreased CD20+ cell levels. Accordingly, lowered levels of HLA-DR-lymphocytes, high CD8 cell scores, low percentages of phagocytizing neutrophils, decreased IgM and complement titers, increased serum lysozyme and β-lysine activities were observed. Immune disorders in the patients with II and III stage disease were much more frequent, as compared to stage I, and they depended on immune variant of myeloma. Minimal immune defects were noted in cases with Bence Jones variant. High-dose chemotherapy resulted into more expressed immune disorders, mainly, altered T-cell immunity. These data are indicative for a necessity of a regular immunological monitoring, aiming for administration of immunocorrective therapy.

Keywords

• multiple myeloma
• immune indices