Hi,
My older brother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at 64. My older sister was diagnosed 2 years later, also when she was 64. What screening should I be having done? Is there genetic testing that I should have?
Thanks,
robinnwin
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Re: Screening tests when family have multiple myeloma?
Hi robinnwin,
I'm sorry to hear about your brother and sister. I hope they responded well to the treatments they received for their multiple myeloma.
I suspect that, given the age of your siblings, you yourself are getting annual physicals (or should be!). This means it should be easy and relatively cheap to tack on the serum immunofixation test (IFX) as part of blood tests done at your physical. The IFX is a sensitive test that will tell you if there are any signs of a monoclonal protein in your blood. If the results are clear of monoclonal protein, then there is at least a 98% certainty that you do not have any developing multiple myeloma. (Perhaps 2% of multiple myeloma cases are truly "nonsecretory", meaning the myeloma cells do not produce the monoclonal protein picked up in the serum immunofixation test.)
You could also have a serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) and serum free light chain (FLC) test done at every physical, and these do provide more useful information. But the immunofixation test is a great first-line test to do to check if anything is amiss. If it shows the presence of a monoclonal protein, you can do more tests, like the SPEP and free light chain test, to get more information. You could, however, have an initial SPEP and free light chain test done, just to give you a baseline for future comparison.
Also, at each physical, be sure to check your hemoglobin, creatinine, and calcium levels in your blood. Most, if not all, of these results should be in the tests you're having done regularly anyway.
Finally, you may want to have a quantitative immunoglobulin panel run now, and then maybe every 2 years (?) to track your IgA, IgG, and IgM levels. In about 80%-85% of multiple myeloma cases, the disease pushes up the level of one of these immunoglobulins. The disease also has a tendency to lower the level of the immunoglobulins it does not push up.
I'm not aware of any validated or generally accepted genetic test to determine a person's risk for multiple myeloma. There may be companies out there claiming they have such a test. But that does not mean it is validated or accepted by most myeloma specialists as accurate.
There's a thread in the forum about the cost of different myeloma-related tests, in case you're interested:
"Cost of multiple myeloma lab tests" (started Oct 6, 2015)
Good luck!
I'm sorry to hear about your brother and sister. I hope they responded well to the treatments they received for their multiple myeloma.
I suspect that, given the age of your siblings, you yourself are getting annual physicals (or should be!). This means it should be easy and relatively cheap to tack on the serum immunofixation test (IFX) as part of blood tests done at your physical. The IFX is a sensitive test that will tell you if there are any signs of a monoclonal protein in your blood. If the results are clear of monoclonal protein, then there is at least a 98% certainty that you do not have any developing multiple myeloma. (Perhaps 2% of multiple myeloma cases are truly "nonsecretory", meaning the myeloma cells do not produce the monoclonal protein picked up in the serum immunofixation test.)
You could also have a serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) and serum free light chain (FLC) test done at every physical, and these do provide more useful information. But the immunofixation test is a great first-line test to do to check if anything is amiss. If it shows the presence of a monoclonal protein, you can do more tests, like the SPEP and free light chain test, to get more information. You could, however, have an initial SPEP and free light chain test done, just to give you a baseline for future comparison.
Also, at each physical, be sure to check your hemoglobin, creatinine, and calcium levels in your blood. Most, if not all, of these results should be in the tests you're having done regularly anyway.
Finally, you may want to have a quantitative immunoglobulin panel run now, and then maybe every 2 years (?) to track your IgA, IgG, and IgM levels. In about 80%-85% of multiple myeloma cases, the disease pushes up the level of one of these immunoglobulins. The disease also has a tendency to lower the level of the immunoglobulins it does not push up.
I'm not aware of any validated or generally accepted genetic test to determine a person's risk for multiple myeloma. There may be companies out there claiming they have such a test. But that does not mean it is validated or accepted by most myeloma specialists as accurate.
There's a thread in the forum about the cost of different myeloma-related tests, in case you're interested:
"Cost of multiple myeloma lab tests" (started Oct 6, 2015)
Good luck!
2 posts
• Page 1 of 1