Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia

Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia

A rare disease of elderly people in which a MONOCLONAL immunoglobulin, IgM, is present in excessive quantities in the blood. This is caused by a cancerous overgrowth of B LYMPHOCYTES in the bone marrow. The condition progresses to immune deficiency. Treatment is by PLASMAPHERESIS and the use of the drug CHLORAMBUCIL. (Jan Waldenström, Swedish physician, b. 1906).