Immunophenotypic characteristics of multiple myeloma

Objective The main objective of this work was to investigate the immunophenotypic characteristics of mutiple myeloma. Methods We have examined the co-expression of CD19, CD20, CD34,CD13, CD38, CD45, CD56 and CD138 in marrow aspirates in 6 normal peoples and 55 patients with MM by flow cytometry. The analysis was based on at least 3×104 events. Results The percentage of MM cells ranged between 3.8 % and 63.2 % in 55 bone marrow aspirates of MM. The presence of CD138, CD38, CD56, CD20, CD19, CD13 and CD33 was expressed in 100 %, 100 %, 81.8 %, 20.0 %, 3.6 %, 10.9 % and 21.8 % respectively. The cells were negative or dim for CD45 antigens. The others were negative. Conclusion The immunophenotyping analysis of MM is a useful tool for diagnosis, further evaluating prognosis and detection of residual after treatment.