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Emergence of Oligoclonal Bands in Association with the use of Chemotherapy and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

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Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a rare malignant condition with an abnormal clonal proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Chemotherapy and Hematopoietic Stem cell transplantation (HCT) are the main modalities of myeloablative therapy. The study aimed to determine the frequency of oligoclonal bands (OB) in multiple myeloma patients receiving primary therapy alone with chemotherapy as well as patients undergoing HCT at a single institution. The clinical and laboratory records of 76 MM patients were reviewed who underwent HCT from January 2012 to January 2019. Another 74 cases receiving chemotherapy alone, were also reviewed. In total 85 patients were selected by the availability of at least 3 serial immunofixation electrophoresis(IFE) results in non-transplanted cases and 2 post-transplant IFE results in the HCT cases after attainment of very good partial response(VGPR). 40 patients were non transplanted cases while 45 patients underwent HCT. Oligoclonal bands emerged in twenty-four (28%) patients. 15% (6/40) of the patients treated without HCT and, 40% (18/45) of patients treated with HCT from their respective cohorts. To conclude, this is the first Indian report showing a higher frequency of oligoclonal response in patients in VGPR attained after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation versus chemotherapy. This difference could be due to a stronger immune reconstitution, or graft vs. host reaction, or autoimmune response to myeloma antigens and may not be an active disease process or relapse. However to determine the prognostic impact of OB further investigations and follow-ups are required.

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Data Availability

Data are available upon reasonable request. The data sets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

MM:

Multiple myeloma

HCT:

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

IFE:

Immunofixation electrophoresis

VGPR:

Very good partial response

OB:

Oligoclonal bands

SPE:

Serum protein electrophoresis

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Funding

The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not- for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kalyani, 741245, India

    Chandramallika Paul

  2. Department of CSE, Government College of Engineering and Leather Technology, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700106, India

    Sarit Chakraborty

  3. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, TATA Medical Center, Kolkata, 700160, India

    Subhosmito Chakraborty

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  1. Chandramallika Paul
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  2. Sarit Chakraborty
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  3. Subhosmito Chakraborty
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Contributions

All authors were involved in the conception, design, write-up, and revision of this article. CP and SC planned the study and collected the data. CP, SC, SC carried out the analysis. SC and CP wrote, edited, and revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarit Chakraborty.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the institutional ethical committee of the TATA MEDICAL CENTER, KOLKATA, INDIA. All personal identifiers (name, employer, contact) were removed from the data set, and analyses were carried out at the institution level.

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Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

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Paul, C., Chakraborty, S. & Chakraborty, S. Emergence of Oligoclonal Bands in Association with the use of Chemotherapy and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Ind J Clin Biochem 37, 328–334 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-021-00983-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-021-00983-0

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