Cytogenetic findings in 126 patients with multiple myeloma A retrospective single-centre study

OBJECTIVE To analyze the relationship between cytogenetic abnormalities, prognosis, and stage of multiple myeloma (MM) patients at diagnosis. METHOD The medical records of 126 patients diagnosed with MM between January 1st, 2013 and December 31st, 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Most patients were assessed using conventional cytogenetics (CC) and some with interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (I-FISH). RESULTS A total of 126 adult patients meeting the International Myeloma Working Group diagnostic criteria of MM were identified. Out of these patients, 64 (51%) were male and 62 (49%) female (1.03:1 ratio) with a mean age of 62.2 years. The patients' median overall duration of survival after diagnosis was 32 months. CC was performed on 113 (90%) patients, with abnormal karyotypes being found in 18 (16%). On the whole, 31 patients had FISH analysis, 22 (71%) of which had a normal result, and in 9 (29%) deletion on chromosome 17 was found. CONCLUSIONS Our patients presented with advanced disease with frequent complications, primarily because of the infiltration of plasmatic cells. The study demonstrated that, even though the CC analysis and FISH are performed on non-enriched plasma cells, they still have informative value. Moreover, they are essential for risk stratification in MM patients at diagnosis.