Light Chains

I was diagnosed with multiple myloma in September 2006. My doctor strated talking about light chains immediately. I have tried and tried to get him to explain to me what are light chains and what do they have to do with knowing how I am doing at fighting my cancer? He doesn't say much and he is very smart, but I am just a red neck from East Texas who doesn't speak "Doctor". Can anyone explain this to me so that I can understand it? Thanks in advance and may God bless everyone else who has this disease.

MM is a cancer of the plasma cells and the job of plasma cells is to make immunoglobulins or antibodies which help fight infections in the body.  So in some cases there are too many antibodies and in some cases (about 20% of MM patients) the antibodies are incompletely produced.  In these patients (like you) the cancerous plasma cells only produce part of the antibody called the light chain or Bence Jones protein.  These light chains are small and generally dont show up in the blood but in the urine.  Generally speaking light chain MM can be a more agressive disease and can cause kidney damage which is often the cause of decline in these patients.

 Well I must admit I did not ever hear of Light chains either and I am a Multiple myeloma patient.  I have posted on the first 3 messages here all about my remission of stage 4 Multiple Myeloma. I am aretired oncology nurse

If you a interested in emailing me I will be happy to explain more.

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Please no nasty email on how only the doctor knows bests etc. 

On 2/20/2007 Poppy 1952 wrote:

I was diagnosed with multiple myloma in September 2006. My doctor strated talking about light chains immediately. I have tried and tried to get him to explain to me what are light chains and what do they have to do with knowing how I am doing at fighting my cancer? He doesn't say much and he is very smart, but I am just a red neck from East Texas who doesn't speak "Doctor". Can anyone explain this to me so that I can understand it? Thanks in advance and may God bless everyone else who has this disease.