Use of B-Cell Gene Rearrangement Studies to Establish Clonality in Non-Producer Non-Secretory Multiple Myeloma

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell neoplasm featuring symptoms of hypercalcemia, renal failure, anemia, and lytic bone lesions that comprises approximately 13% of all hematologic malignancies in the United States.1 Although MM is typically associated with the secretion of clonal immunoglobulin proteins (Ig), in 2 to 3 percent of cases, MM patients present without detectable monoclonal Ig by laboratory testing, a phenomenon known as non-secretory multiple myeloma (NSMM).2 NSMM can be further divided into two subtypes: producer NSMM, in which clonal Ig is synthesized but not secreted, and the extremely rare non-producer NSMM (NPNSMM), in which Ig is neither synthesized nor secreted by the clonal plasma cells.
Source: Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia - Category: Hematology Authors: Tags: Case Report Source Type: research