Immunotyping and quantification of free ligh chains in ecuadorian patients with monoclonal gammopathy

Abstract

At present, some of the hematological neoplasms, among them monoclonal gammopathies (MG), are incurable despite advances in oncological therapies. Studies of MG in Ecuador are scarce; the latest statistics show that multiple myeloma (MM) is among the top 25 tumors in the country. In order to characterize the results of immunotyping (IT) and quantification of free light chains in blood (FLC) of patients with MG in Portoviejo, Manabí; Ecuador, an observational, descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective study was carried out that included 237protein electrophoresis (PEL), 42 IT and 58 FLC, from patients seen in Hematology Services of the region from January to July 2019. The techniques were used by Sebia ELP and IT and by Seralite. 14% of the ELP studied were GM, the majority male with an average age of 64 years and a range of 31-87 years. More than half of the GM had a diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma (MM) of which 15 % were under 40 years of age. 69% of IT were positive and the IgG kappa (κ) isotype predominated. IT did not show diagnostic utility in non-secretory or oligosecretory MM cases. 91% of the FLC presented pathological results of a κ / λ relationship. The FLC results were significantly higher than those reported by the technique traditionally used in the total light chain region, so this test increased the possibility of detection of MM in all its variants.