[John Bear]

Velcade stopped, M-spike rises - is there a connection?

by John Bear on Mon Oct 05, 2015 2:55 pm

A month ago. because of a minor rash on arms*, my Velcade was stopped entirely, and Revlimid reduced from 25 to 10 mg. After one month, my M-spike, which had been steady at 1.1 g/dL (11 g/L) rose 27% to 1.4 g/dL. Oncologist seems un­concerned. I wonder if I should be.
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* I've had mild psoriasis for 22 years, and assumed it was that.

[TerryH]

Re: Velcade stopped, M-spike rises - is there a connection?

by TerryH on Tue Oct 06, 2015 11:58 am

Hi John,

There's some margin of error when it comes to M-spike readings. You'll hear different ranges quoted, but a change of a few tenths of a g/dL generally isn't considered too significant a change – particularly for a single reading.

The other factor that may be affecting your doctor's opinion of the change, however, is what has been going on with your free light chain numbers. These are the "kappa", "lambda", and "kappa / lambda ratio" results you probably also get with your regular test results.

Did any of those numbers change much when your M-spike changed? If not, that's probably why your doctor isn't too concerned about the change in the M-spike.

Good luck!

[Mary dahl]

Re: Velcade stopped, M-spike rises - is there a connection?

by Mary dahl on Wed Oct 07, 2015 9:06 pm

I was told because I had bone damage at an M-spike at 2 for me they do not want it to ever get past 1 and preferably always keep it way below. Apparently some people can have an MSpike much higher and not have any organ damage and be considered MGUS. Again we are all so different. Ask your doctor what numbers are a concern and why?