Prognostic value of expression of CD45 and CD49d in newly diagnosed of multiple myeloma

The predictive value of surface antigens has still remained controversial after bortezomib was approved. We retrospectively analyzed patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma from January 2005 to June 2012 in our department. We focused on two types of surface antigen, CD45 and CD49d, in CD38-positive myeloma cells. Overall survival (OS) was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic factors for OS were evaluated by Cox regression analysis. Thirty-seven patients were enrolled into this study. The median follow-up time was 20.2 months. There tended to be a difference of OS among four groups, CD45–CD49d+, CD45+CD49d+, CD45–CD49d–, and CD45+CD49d– (log-rank test; p = 0.051). Patients were classified into two groups based on the expression patterns of CD45 and CD49d. While median OS in CD45–CD49d+ patients was not reached yet, median OS in non-CD45–CD49d+ patients was 25.2 months (95% CI, 14.6–35.8 months), respectively (log-rank test; p = 0.014). Multivariate analysis revealed that CD45–CD49d+ was the independent prognostic factor for longer survival (hazard ratio 0.064. 95% CI 0.006–0.643; p = 0.020). In conclusion, the expressions of CD45–CD49d+ seemed to be a favorite OS in multiple myeloma patients.