Connect
← Return to Does anyone else have MGUS?
Discussion
Comment receiving replies
I also take the most conservative approach, however at the cancer hospital in my area I opted for the test. The M spike and diagnosis is not a known factor. According to the literature this is an uncommon cancer and my hematologist wanted to know exactly where we were when I went to him. It will allow them to intervene at an appropriate time if they have good benchmarks to start with. In my case the M spike has been in my blood since 2019. I read stories where people never convert, some convert in 5- 7 years etc. Best to take the recommendation of the cancer specialist. Ask for conscious sedation and you won't even fell it. No side effects and gives your oncologist valuable information to treat you specifically.
Replies to "I also take the most conservative approach, however at the cancer hospital in my area I..."
Connect
And some like me have had elevated M spikes for 23 years with no progression to SMM or MM. I have never had a bone marrow biopsy although it was found by a premier MM center and followed by a MM specialist . This (indolent MGUS state) is true for five to 10 percent of elderly people - many, (perhaps most) never know they have the diagnosis.
MGUS can be a very indolent condition with no symptoms.
It is controversial as to whether asymptomatic SMM should be treated as a significant proportion of SMM patients do not progress to MM. This is a disease where early treatment of asymptomatic patients may not be appropriate - at least not until we have agreed upon biomarkers indicating which patients are high risk and very likely to progress to MM.