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Written by Web master
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Wednesday, 12 May 2004 |
What is Muliple myeloma? It is a malignancy (cancer) of the white blood cell, called a plasma cell. M-spike or M-protein: Monoclonal proteins found in the blood of those with multiple myeloma can be used as a way of indicating how far the myeloma disease has progressed. The current M-spike is compared to previous M-spikes to determine if a particular treatment is helping halt the process of the mutiple myeloma. In my case, three years ago the M-spike was 3.8. As the multiple myeloma progresses the M-spike goes up—there is an increase in the monoclonal proteins present in the blood—but the lastest M-spike reading for me was 3.1 which shows a decrease in the plasma cells (as of April 2009).
What is a Beta2-microglobulin? It is a protein found on the surface of many cells. Testing is done primarily when evaluating a person for certain kinds of cancer affecting white blood cells. These cancers include lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.Beta2-microglobulin is on the surface of white blood cells. Increased production or destruction of these cells causes Beta2-microglobulin levels in the blood to increase. The Beta2-microglobulin levels reflect how active the multiple myeloma is.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 June 2009 )
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