[tycaudle]

M-spike of 0.2 g/dL

by tycaudle on Tue Nov 25, 2014 1:13 am

Hello! My name is Tammy. My dad, age 67, has been having low back pain and hip pain. He's had an MRI that showed only degenerative disease. So his family doctor ordered a serum electrophoresis lab on him.

Today, his MD told us he was going to send him to an oncologist because he had an M spike of 0.2 g/dL. He said it could be multiple myeloma. All other blood work (CBC and chemistries) have been normal.

From what Info I found about multiple myeloma, 0.2 M-spike is not really high, but I know in reality it should be zero. Does anyone have any information or experiences with these test results! I would sure value any past experience or opinions from someone who has been through this. It's very scary! Thanks

[Multibilly]

Re: M-spike of 0.2 g/dL

by Multibilly on Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:37 am

Tycaudle,

That is indeed a really low M-spike. The oncologist will likely run some additional tests and then wait to re-test your Dad in several months or a year to see if he still has an M-spike.

If it is something like MGUS, note that a lot of folks your dad's age have MGUS and live their entire lives without even knowing they have it. The risk of MGUS progressing to symptomatic multiple myeloma is quite low (on the order of 1%/year), which is why so many older people never know they even have MGUS (and are none the worse for it).