[snikky]

"Specific M-protein cannot be identified" - meaning?

by snikky on Fri Dec 12, 2014 1:56 pm

Hello,

I've been dealing with a systemic illness for some time now and have had many labs tested and retested to see if new information pops up.

Recently, the doctors reordered a new serum immunofixation and when I saw the results online I was confused by them. In the results section, it simply states "Specific M-protein cannot be identified."

Does this mean that it did not detect anything or that it did detect something but couldn't determine what?

When I previously had this test performed (by a different lab), it would always state that no monoclonal gammopathy was detected and would show a break down of the numbers.

This is much more vague, hence my confusion. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Cheryl G]

Re: "Specific M-protein cannot be identified" - meaning?

by Cheryl G on Fri Dec 12, 2014 2:57 pm

Hi Snikky,

What's the "systemic illness" you've been dealing with? It could matter in terms of interpreting the result that you got.

[Snikky]

Re: "Specific M-protein cannot be identified" - meaning?

by Snikky on Fri Dec 12, 2014 3:07 pm

They haven't been able to determine a diagnosis for the illness and keep alternating between various rheumatologic / neurologic conditions like dermatomyositis, myasthenia gravis, vasculitis. Myeloma or MGUS have been considered as well, since I have been diagnosed with scleredema without a clear cause for it.

[Multibilly]

Re: "Specific M-protein cannot be identified" - meaning?

by Multibilly on Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:07 pm

Hi Snikky,

I agree that the immunofixation summary is a bit ambiguous, but my guess would be that this likely means that no monoclonal protein was present (buy only a doc can tell you this for sure). But note that an immunofixation test simply tells you whether or not there is monoclonal protein present, but it won't give you the "breakdown of the numbers". So, in your earlier lab tests, you probably also had a serum protein electrophoresis test that told you the actual amount of any detected monoclonal protein (which I assume was zero in your earlier test?).

To get a better idea of what all the different multiple myeloma tests measure, see:

http://myeloma.org/pdfs/IMF-U-TestResults-2011_f1web.pdf

[Dr. Prashant Kapoor]

Re: "Specific M-protein cannot be identified" - meaning?

by Dr. Prashant Kapoor on Sun Dec 14, 2014 1:39 am

Multibilly has nicely outlined the interpretation of the tests as well as the difference between immunofixation and protein electrophoresis. I completely agree with his response.

[Snikky]

Re: "Specific M-protein cannot be identified" - meaning?

by Snikky on Mon Dec 15, 2014 9:41 am

Thank you all for the help, that helps to clear it up.