[myeloma madness]

lambda free light rising

by myeloma madness on Sat Nov 12, 2011 10:36 am

My family member has Stage 111 Lambda Multiple Myeloma. He has had a Stem Cell transplant in 2009. Everything went well and achieved CR. My question is, Can an infection or an inflamation cause a rise in the Lambda light chain and throw the kappa/lambda ratio out of whack? All other blood work is normal. Thank you.

[Dr. Adam Cohen]

Re: lambda free light rising

by Dr. Adam Cohen on Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:17 pm

Yes, I have occasionally had patients whose myeloma lab tests were affected by an acute infection. These should be trending back down towards baseline however by a few weeks after the infection clears. If the light chains continue to rise with persistently abnormal ratio then I would suggest talking with his oncologist about whether further evaluation to look for relapse (e.g. skeletal survey, 24 hour urine, bone marrow biopsy) should be performed