M Proteins?

My father is 70 and in what we "believe" to be the late stages of this disease. All chemo's that we've went through over the last year have beared no results according to the doctor including the Velcade/Doxil that we just finished the third cycle of.

The doctor told my parents yesterday that his M proteins were climbing. My mother says that the proteins were in the 100's when he was first diagnosed and now after a years worth of various treatments, they are in the 900's. These numbers do not seem right according to all the post on this site and my investigation on the net. Could someone please tell me what this means? 

 

 

On 6/12/2007 Badmunrizen wrote:

My father is 70 and in what we "believe" to be the late stages of this disease. All chemo's that we've went through over the last year have beared no results according to the doctor including the Velcade/Doxil that we just finished the third cycle of.

The doctor told my parents yesterday that his M proteins were climbing. My mother says that the proteins were in the 100's when he was first diagnosed and now after a years worth of various treatments, they are in the 900's. These numbers do not seem right according to all the post on this site and my investigation on the net. Could someone please tell me what this means? 

 

I am pasting an explanation of M proteins in this message.  My dad just turned 81 today.  He was diagnosed in 1999 with smoldering myeloma and after treatment went into remission.  Four weeks ago he ended up in the hospital with fatigue, dehydration and tremendous weight loss.  His MM had come out of remission.  Last Friday the doctor started him on Revlimid (oral chemo that is pretty new) and dexamethasone.  He is still symptomatic with fatigue and weight loss, and today he ended up in the ER with dehydration.  The good news is that since he started the new treatment of the combination of Revlimid and dexamethasone his M proteins are dropping already and it's only been six days.  I don't know if your dad was ever put on this treatment but if not I would investigate it.  I hope this helps. 

M Proteins (Monoclonal Immunoglobulins)
In myeloma, large amounts of a single type of protein, called M protein or monoclonal immunoglobulin, is made and secreted into the blood. The term monoclonal indicates the protein is derived from one cell population, the malignant plasma cells.

The body's normal process is for plasma cells to produce many types of proteins, called polyclonal immunoglobulins (antibodies), to protect the body against infection caused by invading viruses, bacteria, or other agents. By contrast, the production of M protein does not take place in response to an antigen, such as an infectious agent.

M protein can be measured in the blood. Changes in the amount of this protein usually parallel myeloma progression (increasing M protein concentration in the blood) or regression (decreasing M protein concentration in the blood).

 

On 6/14/2007 Debbi wrote:

 

On 6/12/2007 Badmunrizen wrote:

My father is 70 and in what we "believe" to be the late stages of this disease. All chemo's that we've went through over the last year have beared no results according to the doctor including the Velcade/Doxil that we just finished the third cycle of.

The doctor told my parents yesterday that his M proteins were climbing. My mother says that the proteins were in the 100's when he was first diagnosed and now after a years worth of various treatments, they are in the 900's. These numbers do not seem right according to all the post on this site and my investigation on the net. Could someone please tell me what this means? 

 

I am pasting an explanation of M proteins in this message.  My dad just turned 81 today.  He was diagnosed in 1999 with smoldering myeloma and after treatment went into remission.  Four weeks ago he ended up in the hospital with fatigue, dehydration and tremendous weight loss.  His MM had come out of remission.  Last Friday the doctor started him on Revlimid (oral chemo that is pretty new) and dexamethasone.  He is still symptomatic with fatigue and weight loss, and today he ended up in the ER with dehydration.  The good news is that since he started the new treatment of the combination of Revlimid and dexamethasone his M proteins are dropping already and it's only been six days.  I don't know if your dad was ever put on this treatment but if not I would investigate it.  I hope this helps. 

M Proteins (Monoclonal Immunoglobulins)
In myeloma, large amounts of a single type of protein, called M protein or monoclonal immunoglobulin, is made and secreted into the blood. The term monoclonal indicates the protein is derived from one cell population, the malignant plasma cells.

The body's normal process is for plasma cells to produce many types of proteins, called polyclonal immunoglobulins (antibodies), to protect the body against infection caused by invading viruses, bacteria, or other agents. By contrast, the production of M protein does not take place in response to an antigen, such as an infectious agent.

M protein can be measured in the blood. Changes in the amount of this protein usually parallel myeloma progression (increasing M protein concentration in the blood) or regression (decreasing M protein concentration in the blood).

Got an update from my mother today. She was mistaken about the M Protein level numbers. The doctor told her that his M Protein levels were at 10.5 and his Igg level was 65.92. He definitely not in remission at this point.SInce diagnosed July,2006, he's lost right at 100 lbs. The only chemo that we haven't tried is Revlimid/Dex. I'm taking him to the beach next week so he can relax with his cup of coffee on the balcony and just look at the ocean. He's an old Navy man and gets great pleasure from this. The doctor is starting him on Rev/Dex when we get back. It's the only combo that we haven't tried. With all the other combo's, he's had minimal side effects so we are praying that it will be the same with this combo and finally find something that will stop or at least slow this thing down. Thank you so much for your reply. I fell I know a little bit more about what is going on.