Anaplastic myeloma with deposits in three different sites: Case report and literature review

Anaplastic myeloma is a rare aggressive disease that is resistant to most chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy. It develops usually after a diagnosis of classical multiple myeloma and is associated with at least one extramedullary plasmacytoma site. We report a case of this rare disease in a patient who had no previous illness and presented to us with more than one extramedullary plasmacytoma site: a mass in the right anterior chest wall, a swollen scrotum and multiple nodular skin lesions mainly in the legs

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

About 30 years ago bone marrow transplantation was an experimental procedure carried out as a last resort in terminally ill patients. Nowadays hematopoietic stem cell transplantation [HSCT] has become a standard procedure for many severe malignant or non-malignant disorders of the hematopoietic system. It is well known that HSCT is associated with transplant related mortality and morbidity [TRM], the risk of which in allogeneic transplantations can reach 40%; in contrast the risk is less than 5% in autologous transplantation. However, HSCT outcome has been improved significantly over the past decade both in terms of reduced TRM and reduced risk of relapse of the original disease