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Multiple Myeloma, Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia, and Benign Monoclonal Gammopathy: Characteristics of The B Cell Clone, Immunoregulatory Cell Populations and Clinical Implications

1984; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0065-230x(08)60018-4

2162-5557

Håkan Melistedt, Göran Holm, Magnus Björkhoim,

Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research

Multiple myeloma is the most well recognized of these diseases and has attracted great interest not only for the clinicians but also for immunologists and chemists. Thus, myeloma cells in mouse and in man represent clonal malignant counterparts to normal immunoglobulin secreting cells, each clone producing a single molecular species of normal immunoglobulins. The studies of human myeloma by the use of clonal immunoglobulin markers have clearly demonstrated the presence of B lymphocytes belonging to the malignant clone in the bone marrow of all cases and in the blood of some patients with active disease. Clonality has been defined from the pre-B cell level by the use of antiidiotypic antisera in some studies. These observations may suggest the recruitment of malignant B cells from malignant precursor B lymphocytes. Experimental support for proliferation within the monoclonal B cell compartment gives further evidence for this notion. A similar B cell clonality has been described in murine plasmacytoma.