Clinical specificity of two assays for immunoglobulin kappa and lambda free light chains

Free light chain (FLC) assays and the ratio of κ/λ are recommended for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of plasma cell dyscrasias (PCD). Limited data exists on FLC clinical specificity in patients diagnosed with other conditions.

We assessed the κ, λ, and κ/λ FLC ratio using the FreeLite assay and the Sebia FLC ELISA assay in 176 patients with clinical presentations of fatigue, anemia, polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia, joint disorders, kidney disease and non PCD-cancers with no monoclonal protein observed on serum protein electrophoresis or MASS-FIX immunoglobulin isotyping. Manufacturer defined reference intervals (RI) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) specific RI (renal RI) were utilized.

For the κ/λ ratio, 68.7 % (121/176) of specimens on the FreeLite and 87.5 % (154/176) of specimens on the Sebia assay were within RI. For κ, 68.2 % (120/176) and 72.2 % (127/176) of results were outside RI for FreeLite and Sebia respectively. For λ, 37.5 % (66/176) and 84.1 % (148/176) of FreeLite and Sebia results were outside RI. With FreeLite and Sebia, patients with kidney disease (n=25) had the highest κ/λ ratios. 44 patients (25.0 %) had GFR <60 mL/min/BSA. When renal RI were applied, 13.6 % had a FLCr outside the renal RI with FreeLite, and 4.5 % with Sebia.

In a cohort of patients with signs and symptoms suggestive of PCDs, but ultimately diagnosed with other conditions, Sebia FLC had improved clinical specificity relative to FreeLite, if one was using an abnormal κ/λ ratio as a surrogate for monoclonality.