Introduction Although many studies have investigated many prognostic biomarkers in multiple myeloma (MM), many cases are relapsed and were resistant to therapies. C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) serves as a chemokine receptor which acts through its ligand CXCL12 to regulate diverse physiological processes. CXCR4/CXCL12 axis plays a pivotal role in proliferation, invasion, dissemination and drug resistance in MM. Neural cell adhesion molecule or cluster of differentiation 56 (CD56) is a membrane glycoprotein expressed on neural cells, muscle cells and myeloma cells. Expression of CD56 has been studied in patients with MM with controversial results. Being part of myeloma microenvironment it was important to investigate their exact impact on disease prognosis. Our aim was to investigate the expression of CXCR4 and CD56 by immunohistochemistry in MM and to assess their prognostic and/or predictive role and to correlate the expression of both markers in MM. Patients and method A total of 51 pretreatment bone marrow trephine biopsies of MM cases, were obtained from Mansoura University Oncology Centre during the period from January 2015 to December 2020. Detailed histopathological assessment was done as well as immunohistochemical staining for CXCR4 and CD56. Results Our results showed that CXCR4 was expressed in 60.8% (31/51) of newly diagnosed MM. CXCR4 expression in MM cases was significantly associated with prolonged progression free survival, less extramedullary involvement and better prognosis. CD56 expression was not associated with disease progression or survival.
Elsherbini et al. (Tue,) studied this question.