Dr. Joseph Mikhael:
Patients with multiple myeloma see a lot of lab work, but which one should they really pay attention to? Hi everybody, Dr. Joe here from the International Myeloma Foundation, and I'm going to break down blood test results in less than a minute.
So in multiple myeloma, we have three key blood tests. Number one, the complete blood count. This looks at the red blood cell count, the white blood cell count, and the platelets, tells us a bit about the bone marrow function. Number two, we have all the chemical tests. This is like the kidney function, the calcium. These reflect organ function and how well the organs are working. And then thirdly, and most importantly, there are the myeloma specific tests, which are typically an M spike or a monoclonal spike, which speaks of the abnormal protein that is made by the myeloma cell that's measured either in the blood or the urine.
And we also look at the light chains because some patients have both an M spike and light chains, some only have light chains. And those abnormal light chains also need to come down as we treat multiple myeloma. Have more questions about multiple myeloma? Drop them in the box below using the hashtag #asktheimf.
