Prior to the use of newly developed drugs and treatment regimens, median survival rates from the time of diagnosis for pPCL and sPCL were 8–11 months and 2–8 months, respectively, even when treated very aggressively with the VAD regimen of vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone or the VCMP regimen of vincristine, carmustine, melphalan, and prednisone alternating with vincristine, carmustine, doxorubicin, and prednisone. The treatment of<unk>  patients, particularly pPCL patients, with newer methods appears to have made modest improvements in survival rates. However, the rarity of these two<unk> s has limited individual studies to case reports on a small number of patients or retrospective analyses of patient records. Randomized controlled trials on these patients have not been reported. One flaw of these methods is patient selection bias, i.e. patients selected for treatment with a new regimen may be less ill than average patients with the disease and therefore have an intrinsically less aggressive (i.e. longer overall survival time) disease. Primary<unk>  Recent case report studies suggest that treatment regimens which include a proteasome inhibitor drug, particularly bortezomib, and/or autologous stem-cell transplantation have improved pPCL survival. For example, 28 patients treated with a bortezomib-based induction regimen followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation and then a maintenance regimen of lenaldomide (an immunosuppressant related to thalidomide), bortezomib, and dexamethasone (a corticosteroid) has a progression free survival rate of 66% at 3 years and an overall survival rate of 73% at 4 years. In one study, patients receiving intensive chemotherapy plus autologous stem-cell transplantation had a median survival of 34 months while those receiving chemotherapy alone had a median survival of 11 months. Two other studies that included bortezomib in their chemotherapy regimens likewise found that the addition of autologous stem-cell transplantation improved results. Current recommendations for treating pPCL often include induction with a three drug regimen such as borezomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone followed by autologous stem-cell transplantion and consolidation/maintenance with of combination of immunomodulator agents (e.g. thalidomide, lenalidomide, or pomalidomide) plus a proteasome inhibitor (bortezomib, ixazomib, or carfilzomib. Secondary<unk>  As the end stage of multiple myeloma that has failed or broken through one or more therapeutic regimens, sPCL continues to be highly refractory to various treatment regimens (<50%), very short response times of these regiments, and poor overall survival rates (median survival of 2–8 to months). Patients with sPCL may have short-lived responses to treatment regimens (as communicated in case reports) that include bortezomid but there are no established therapeutic regimens that have clearly been shown to improve their overall or median survival.
Plasma cell leukemia
Waldenström macroglobulinemia
Multiple myeloma
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
Macroglobulinemia
Plasmablastic lymphoma
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance
Primary myelofibrosis