To the Editor.—
We agree with the premise of Dr. Mikhail's opening statement. However, we still believe that the case we described had a bona fide solitary plasmacytoma.1 The entire large tumor, 3×4×6× cm, was composed of plasma cells, some of which were atypical. The presence of an inflammatory infiltrate abutting the neoplastic cells is not surprising, particularly since the tumor was over the lower buttock and subject to irritation from pressure. There was no evidence of metastatic disease up to six months postexcision of this mass, which had been present over 20 years (at which time the patient returned to Samoa). Although not recorded in the original report, Dr. Benjamin Castleman, pathologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, corroborated our diagnosis. Serologic evidence for syphilis was absent. We appreciated learning that a postmortem of the case reported by Dr. Mikhail and colleagues2 did not reveal myeloma.