Association of CD117 and HLA-DR expression with shorter overall survival and/or progression-free survival in patients with multiple myeloma treated with bortezomib and thalidomide combination treatment without transplantation

Certain immunophenotypes in multiple myeloma (MM), including CD56 and CD117, have been reported to be associated with overall survival (OS). However, previous reports have ignored the impact of different treatment regimens and the long-term prognostic value of immunophenotyping in MM when treated with novel agents, including thalidomide and bortezomib, in the absence of transplantation for autologous stem cell transplantation and allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. To further understand the long-term prognostic value of immunophenotyping in MM, when treated with bortezomib combined with thalidomide-based regimens without transplantation, 80 patients who were newly diagnosed between January 2007 and December 2015, were analyzed retrospectively. In contrast to previous studies, no significant survival time difference was observed between CD56+/CD117+ and CD56-/CD117- groups. Multivariate analysis suggested that human leukocyte antigen-antigen D-related (HLA-DR)+ was independently associated with shorter OS and progression-free survival (PFS), while CD117+ was an independent prognostic factor for decreased PFS. In addition, the myeloma prognostic index (MPI), defined by HLA-DR+, age ≥65 years and international staging system stage III, was suitable for risk stratification of patients treated with novel agents for OS and PFS. The results of the current study suggested that HLA-DR+ patients had a shorter OS and PFS and CD117+ patients had shorter PFS. HLA-DR+ or CD117+ was sufficient to affect survival. Evaluating these markers may reveal valuable prognostic factors for MM in patients receiving bortezomib combined with thalidomide-based regimens without autologous stem cell transplantation and allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation). MPI may describe an accessible tool to predict the prognosis of patients with MM.