ABSTRACT
Although an uncommon diagnosis in the general population, myeloma accounts for 10-15% of all haematological malignancies. It is the best recognized of the monoclonal gammopathies, and the frequent presence of a preneoplastic clonal proliferation, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), before overt malignant transformation, has created a unique opportunity for large-scale population studies, which have provided insight into both the etiology and epidemiology of myeloma. The hallmark of the disease is the presence of a serum or urine paraprotein, the detection and monitoring of which has contributed much to our understanding of the disease and its clinical features and progression. However, the increasing diagnostic sensitivity of detection of paraproteins, from protein electropheresis to immunoelectropheresis to immunofixation, have created some difficulties in the interpretation of epidemiological studies, particularly when one compares studies performed at different time
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF MYELOMA?
