Measurement of serum heavy/light chain in monoclonal plasma cell proliferative disor-ders / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Monoclonal protein (M protein) is a serum surrogate used to conduct diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic evaluations of monoclonal plasma cell proliferative disorders. Two basic methods, namely, serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation elec-trophoresis, are employed to detect and characterize M protein. Although these techniques have considerably improved, M protein quantification exhibits several drawbacks. In serum protein electrophoresis, M protein can migrate to various locations, and low M pro-tein levels cannot form a typical peak;as a consequence, additional problems in measurements arise. In 2009, a novel immunoassay in-volving a heavy/light chain (HLC) was developed. HLC recognizes immunoglobulins with specific heavy and light chain isotypes. The ra-tio between an involved monoclonal immunoglobulin and an uninvolved background polyclonal immunoglobulin can be calculated through immunoglobulin quantitation by using isotype-specific light chains. This review summarizes relevant parameters that provide diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic data regarding monoclonal plasma cell proliferative disorders.