Monoclonal gammapathy, multiple myeloma and cancer

Seventeen cancer patients with monoclonal gammapathy on serum protein electrophoresis are described. Thirteen of these patients were proved to have multiple myeloma, while four patients had "benign" monoclonal gammapathy. In all the cases where bone marrow aspiration was done, an increase in plasma cells was revealed. A majority of the myeloma patients had osteolytic lesions, while all the patients with "benign" monoclonal gammapathy had normal bone survey. A relationship between the solid tumors and monoclonal gammapathy is discussed. The difficulty of detecting multiple myeloma in patients who are previously known to have cancer is presented.