Immunophenotypic analysis of lymphocytes and subgroups in patients with multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by the growth of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow. It constitutes 1% of all malignancies and 15% of hematological malignancies. Although the cause of MM is not known exactly, it is a neoplastic disease characterized by symptoms of immune deficiency caused by dysfunctional paraproteins secreted by clonal proliferating plasma cells in the bone marrow. A better understanding of the biology of MM has led to the development of current therapies such as thalidomide, lenalidomide and bortezomib targeting the bone marrow microenvironment and myeloma cells, which play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of Lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory agent (IMA) used in MM patients, on blood T lymphocyte subgroups (CD4+ and CD8+), natural killer cell (NK) and natural killer T cell (NKT) by flow cytometry. 64 patients participated in the study. The median age of the patients was 64 years (33-79) and the proportion of men (59%) was slightly higher than women (41%). Peripheral blood samples of 34 MM patients (34%) who received lenalidomide treatment and 30 (47%) patients who did not receive lenalidomide treatment were collected. Anti-CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD56 monoclonal antibodies were used to detect T lymphocyte subgroups, Natural killer cell (NK) and Natural killer T cell (NKT) counts. As a result of the study, there was a statistically significant increase in total lymphocyte count and CD8 + T cells count in the patient group receiving lenalidomide treatment compared to those without lenalidomide treatment. There were no statistically significant changes in CD4+ T cells, NK and NKT cells. As a result, the effects of lenalidomide in MM patients were found to be similar to the literature.