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 …