Waldenström macroglobulinaemia
Waldenström macroglobulinemia is a type of cancer affecting two types of white blood cells: lymphoplasmacytoid cells and cells. It is characterized by having high levels of a circulating antibody, M (IgM), which is made and secreted by the cells involved in the disease. Waldenström macroglobulinemia is an "indolent " and a type of lymphoproliferative disease that shares characteristics with the indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas. It is commonly classified as a form of plasma cell dyscrasia, similar to other plasma cell dyscrasias that, for example, lead to multiple myeloma. Waldenström macroglobulinemia is commonly preceded by two clinically but progressively more pre- phases, IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and smoldering Waldenström macroglobulinemia. The Waldenström macroglobulinemia 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.
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