DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed solitary plasmacytoma of 1 of the following types:

  • Solitary bone plasmacytoma
  • Extraosseus solitary plasmacytoma
• Bone marrow plasmacytosis < 10% within the past 4 weeks

• Low serum and/or urine M-protein meeting ≥ 1 of the following criteria:

  • Serum IgG < 3.5 g/dL
  • Serum IgA < 2.0 g/dL
  • Urine M-protein (kappa or lambda) < 1.0 g/24 hours
• No lytic lesions on skeletal survey other than a single lesion associated with solitary plasmacytoma within the past 4 weeks

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• Zubrod 0-2

Life expectancy

• Not specified

Hematopoietic

• Hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dL* AND/OR
• No hemoglobin 2 g/dL < lower limit of normal* (LLN) NOTE: *Patients with a history of hemoglobin < 10 g/dL AND/OR < 2 g/dL < LLN that has corrected or improved after epoetin alfa but requires continued treatment with epoetin alfa are not eligible

Hepatic

• Not specified

Renal

• Calcium ≤ 10.5 mg/dL OR
• Calcium normal
• Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL

Other

• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, carcinoma in situ of the cervix or breast, or stage I or II cancer that is currently in complete remission

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• Not specified

Chemotherapy

• Not specified

Endocrine therapy

• No prior high-dose steroids except to relieve neurological compromise

Radiotherapy

• Prior localized radiotherapy for myeloma allowed
• Concurrent radiotherapy allowed

Surgery

• Prior surgery for myeloma allowed

Other

• No other prior therapy for myeloma
• Concurrent enrollment in protocol SWOG-S0309 (Myeloma Specimen Repository) allowed