Impact of Monoclonal Antibodies Therapies on Myeloma Electrophoresis Interpretation

Abstract

There has been an explosion of monoclonal antibody therapies in medicine in recent years to treat a wide range of conditions, including multiple myeloma. Daratumumab and isatuximab are monoclonal IgG kappa antibodies against CD38, a marker on plasma cells, and are used to treat myeloma. These therapies are given in doses high enough to be detected on routine protein electrophoresis and can confound interpretation of results. This talk will show how these drugs appear on protein electrophoresis, give examples of cases where they have interfered with result interpretation, and discuss the use of the Hydrashift assays to accurately interpret the results.

Speaker's biography

Dr. Rachel Wheeler is a Consultant Clinical Scientist in Immunology, with a specialist interest in protein electrophoresis and cryoproteins. She is Director of the Protein Reference Unit at St George’s Hospital, London, UK and Clinical Lead for Immunology, South West London Pathology.

Rachel studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, before moving to Manchester (UK) for her PhD. Her PhD work looked at the role of cytokines in the central nervous system, and she continued this work as a postdoctoral fellow at Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada.

Rachel started training as a Clinical Scientist under Dr. Joanna Sheldon in 2005 and developed expertise in a range of protein assays used in diagnostics. Her recent work focuses on delivering the best laboratory service for diagnosis of myeloma and other conditions associated with monoclonal proteins.