Significance of Oligoclonal Bands after Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma Cases

Objective: To determine the characteristics of oligoclonal bands that are frequently detected by serum proteinelectrophoresis (SPEP) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) after stem cell transplantation.
Methods: Weretrospectively analyzed 56 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing transplantation, and standardimmunofixation electrophoresis was used to identify and quantify paraproteins.
Results: The median follow-upwas 35 months (range, 10-76months) and 21 patients relapsed. Twelve (25.0%) demonstrated oligoclonal bandsafter a median time 1.4 months (range, 1-3months), with a median duration of 5.8 months (range, 1-15months).The majority patients with oligoclonal bands had normal quantities of immunoglobulins and the one year eventfree survival (EFS) was 92%, even higher than for patients without OBs (P=0.002).
Conclusion: Oligoclonalbands frequent develop post-transplantation in MM cases. In the vast majority of patients, they may notrepresent relapsed disease, and more likely represent a transient phenomenon representing recovery of impairedimmunoglobulin production.