Figure 1.

CD138 expression and prognosis. (A) CD138 expression in CD38⁺⁺ multiple myeloma (MM) cells. CD138 expression for 6 representative patients measured by flow cytometry is shown. The upper 3 cases are CD138 high cases. The lower 3 cases are CD138 low cases. (B) Increase in CD138⁻ cells in relapsed or progressive patients. CD138⁻ cells are frequently observed in relapsed or progressive patients (median, 29.8%) compared with newly diagnosed patients (median, 6.6%) (p<0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). (C) CD138 low MM cells are indicators of poor prognosis. In newly diagnosed patients, CD138 low MM patients (n=22) have poor overall survival compared with CD138 high patients (n=68) (p<0.05, log-rank).