Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia
Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Causes
The origin of Waldenstr?m macroglobulinemia is not yet known but it has been associated with the locus 6p21.3 on chromosome 6 (Schop RF, Van Wier SA, Xu R, et al (2006). "6q deletion discriminates Waldenstr?m macroglobulinemia from IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance". Cancer Genet. Cytogenet. 169 (2): 150?3).
Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Definition
Waldenstr?m macroglobulinemia , WM for brevity, is a type cancer disease which involves the lymphocytes or the subtype of white blood cells. It is usually a type of lymphoproliferative disease, and is often said to share the same characteristics with the non-Hodgkin Lymphomas ( Cheson BD (2006). "Chronic Lymphoid Leukemias and Plasma Cell Disorders", in Dale DD, Federman DD: ACP Medicine. New York, NY: WebMD Professional Publishing).
Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Diagnosis
Diagnosis includes examination of the distinguishing feature of the Waldenstr?m macroglobulinemia condition which is the presence of an IgM monoclonal protein of the paraproteing that is produced by the cancer cells and a decrease in the levels of uninvolved immunoglobulins such as the IgG and IgA.
Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Symptoms and Signs
Symptoms includes unusual weakness, fatigue, sudden weight loss and chronic oozing of blood from the nose and gums (Kyle RA (1998). "Chapter 94: Multiple Myeloma and the Dysproteinemias", in Stein JH: Internal Medicine, 5th ed., New York: C.V.Mosby). Some symptoms are due to the IgM paraprotein which may cause autoimmune phenomenon or cryoglobulinemia. Other symptoms includes blurring or loss of vision, headache.
Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Treatment
The treatment for the medical condition includes administration of monoclonal antibody rituximab and sometimes in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs such as chlorambucil, cyclophosphamide and vincristine. Administration of corticosteroids are also used. Autologous bone marrow transplant are also used to treat the condition recently.