High dose chemotherapy and stem cell support in a patient of light- and heavy-chain deposition disease with abnormal marrow cell surface antigens and no monoclonal protein.

A 53-year-old man with nephrotic syndrome and severe renal failure was diagnosed with light- and heavy-chain deposition disease (LHCDD) by renal biopsy. The patient had no monoclonal protein and mild marrow plasmacytosis (6%), but marrow plasma cells expressed CD19(-)CD56+ and predominant monoclonal kappa-chain, indicating plasma cell dyscrasia. Conventional chemotherapy was ineffective and did not improve renal failure. High dose chemotherapy/peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (HDC/PBSCT) was introduced even after hemodialysis to eliminate aberrant clone and normalization of bone marrow cell surface markers. Immunophenotypic analysis of marrow cells facilitates clinical decision making regarding the use of HDC/PBSCT for LHCDD patients without monoclonal protein.