EC Clinical and Medical Case Reports

Multiple myeloma is a hematological malignancy characterized by excessive, uncontrolled proliferation of plasma cells, leading to bone marrow clonal expansion. Cytological diagnosis is based on the identification of plasma cells in the bone marrow using May-Grunwald Giemsa (MGG) staining, which exceed 10% of all bone marrow cells. The morphological study of plasma cells in biological haematology has a dual purpose: diagnostic orientation and assessment of the prognosis of multiple myeloma. The progression of the disease is characterized by the appearance of morphological changes in plasma cells, which can affect both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Nuclear morphological changes: nuclear immaturity, irregular contours and plasmablasts are closely linked to malignancy. Abnormalities of the cytoplasm: Mott cells, flamed cytoplasm, crystalline inclusions, Dutcher bodies, essentially correspond to disorders of immunoglobulin synthesis within the plasma cell and can be encountered in multiple myeloma as well as in monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance (MGUS) or other reactive disorders, and are therefore non-specific for malignancy.

In this article, we review the history of the discovery of the plasma cell as an immune cell and of multiple myeloma as a hematological malignancy, the morphological aspect of an immune cell and the role of the plasma cell in the development of myeloma.

 Keywords: Plasma Cells; Multiple Myeloma; Morphological Changes; Immaturity; Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Asynchronism; Prognosis

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