Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia

Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM), is a type of cancer affecting two types of B cells: lymphoplasmacytoid cells and plasma cells. Both cell types are white blood cells. WM is characterized by having high levels of a circulating antibody, immunoglobulin M (IgM), which is made and secreted by the cells involved in the disease. WM is an 'indolent lymphoma' (i.e., one that tends to grow and spread slowly) and a type of lymphoproliferative disease which shares clinical characteristics with the indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas. WM is commonly classified as a form of plasma cell dyscrasia. Similar to other plasma cell dyscrasias that, for example, lead to multiple myeloma, WM is commonly preceded by two clinically asymptomatic but progressively more pre-malignant phases, IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (i.e. IgM MGUS) and smoldering Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. The WM spectrum of dysplasias differs from other spectrums of plasma cell dyscrasias in that it involves not only aberrant plasma cells but also aberrant lymphoplasmacytoid cells and that it involves IgM while other plasma dyscrasias involve other antibody isoforms.Signs and symptoms of WM include weakness, fatigue, weight loss, and chronic oozing of blood from the nose and gums. Peripheral neuropathy occurs in 10% of patients. Enlargement of the lymph nodes, spleen, and/or liver are present in 30–40% of cases. Other possible signs and symptoms include blurring or loss of vision, headache, and (rarely) stroke or coma.Waldenström's macroglobulinemia is characterized by an uncontrolled clonal proliferation of terminally differentiated B lymphocytes. The most commonly associated mutations, based on whole-genome sequencing of 30 patients, are a somatic mutation in MYD88 (90% of patients) and a somatic mutation in CXCR4 (27% of patients). An association has been demonstrated with the locus 6p21.3 on chromosome 6. There is a two- to threefold increased risk of WM in people with a personal history of autoimmune diseases with autoantibodies, and a particularly elevated risk associated with liver inflammation, human immunodeficiency virus, and rickettsiosis.Symptoms include blurring or loss of vision, headache, and (rarely) stroke or coma are due to the effects of the IgM paraprotein, which may cause autoimmune phenomenon or cryoglobulinemia. Other symptoms of WM are due to the hyperviscosity syndrome, which is present in 6–20% of patients. This is attributed to the IgM monoclonal protein increasing the viscosity of the blood by forming aggregates to each other, binding water through their carbohydrate component and by their interaction with blood cells.A diagnosis of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia depends on a significant monoclonal IGm spike evident in blood tests and malignant cells consistent with the disease in bone marrow biopsy samples. Blood tests show the level of IgM in the blood and the presence of proteins, or tumor markers, that are the key symptoms of WM. A bone marrow biopsy provides a sample of bone marrow, usually from the lower back of the pelvis bone. The sample is extracted through a needle and examined under a microscope. A pathologist identifies the particular lymphocytes that indicate WM. Flow cytometry may be used to examine markers on the cell surface or inside the lymphocytes.There is no single accepted treatment for WM. There is marked variation in clinical outcome due to gaps in knowledge of the disease's molecular basis. Objective response rates are high (> 80%) but complete response rates are low (0–15%). The medication ibrutinib targets the MYD88 L265P mutation induced activation of Bruton's tyrosine kinase. In a cohort study of previously treated patients, ibrutinib induced responses in 91% of patients, and at 2 years 69% of patients had no progression of disease and 95% were alive. Based on this study, the Food and Drug Administration approved ibrutinib for use in WM in 2015.Current medical treatments result in survival of some longer than 10 years; in part this is because better diagnostic testing means early diagnosis and treatments. Older diagnosis and treatments resulted in published reports of median survival of approximately 5 years from time of diagnosis. Currently, median survival is 6.5 years. In rare instances, WM progresses to multiple myeloma.Of all cancers involving the lymphocytes, 1% of cases are WM.WM was first described by Jan G. Waldenström (1906–1996) in 1944 in two patients with bleeding from the nose and mouth, anemia, decreased levels of fibrinogen in the blood (hypofibrinogenemia), swollen lymph nodes, neoplastic plasma cells in bone marrow, and increased viscosity of the blood due to increased levels of a class of heavy proteins called macroglobulins.One recent investigation showed that a population of cells, lacking both B-cell and plasma cell markers, has characteristics of cancer-initiating cells in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.