Articles tagged with: Monoclonal Protein
Opinion»

What would you do if suddenly, out of the blue, your myeloma just – poof! –disappeared?
I know many people achieve remission after treatment, but what if – after having stable but measurable disease for years – it simply vanished for no reason?
A few months ago, I called the doctor’s office to get my latest test results. The nurse said she couldn’t find the results for my M-spike (monoclonal protein). This has happened before, so I wasn’t worried. I felt fine and all of my other numbers were normal, so I’d …
News»

Results from a recent study suggest that multiple myeloma patients whose monoclonal (M) protein levels continue to decrease after 100 days following stem cell transplantation may experience improved survival.
Both progression-free survival and overall survival were longer in patients who showed such a continued response without additional therapy after autologous stem cell transplantation (using their own cells).
“This study confirms the observation that the depth of response continues to improve after transplant,” said the study’s lead investigator Dr. Shaji Kumar from the Mayo Clinic. “It is of particular importance to patients who …
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Results of a Canadian retrospective analysis indicate that multiple myeloma patients who develop one or more new monoclonal proteins (M-spikes) after stem cell transplantation may have improved progression-free and overall survival compared to those without a new M-spike.
Myeloma cells overproduce a single type of antibody, known as a monoclonal or M-protein. Different types of myeloma are classified according to the type of M-protein the patient’s myeloma cells produce.
When a patient’s original M-spike disappears and an M-spike of a different monoclonal protein appears, this is known as monoclonal banding. When the …