IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: clinicopathologic features with and without IgM-related disorders

• Published in: Haematologica (Roma) 2023-10, Vol.108 (10), p.2764-2773
• Main Authors: Bruehl, Frido K, Mannion, Peter, Barbato, Elisha, Nakashima, Megan O, Cook, James R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Plasma Cell Disorders
• ISSN: 0390-6078; 1592-8721
• DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2022.282389

A subset of patients with IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) develop IgM-related disorders (IgM-RD) including peripheral neuropathy, cryoglobulinemia and/or cold agglutinin disease (CAD). We examined the clinical and bone marrow pathologic findings in 191 IgM MGUS patients (2016 WHO criteria). Clonal plasma cells were identified in 41/171 (24%) cases by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and clonal B-cells in 43/157 (27%). IgMRD was identified in 82 (43%) cases, including peripheral neuropathy (n=67, 35%), cryoglobulinemia (n=21, 11%), and CAD (n=10, 5%). Cases of CAD showed distinctive features including lack of MYD88 mutations (p=0.048), supporting the concept of primary CAD as a distinct clinicopathologic disorder. Following exclusion of CAD, comparison of the remaining cases with (n=72) or without (n=109) IgM-RD showed IgM-RD to be more frequent in men than women (p=0.02) and to be more highly associated with MYD88 L265P (p=0.011). Cases with and without IgM-RD otherwise showed similar features including serum IgM concentrations, presence of lymphoid aggregates, clonal B-cells by flow cytometry or clonal plasma cells by IHC. No differences were observed in overall survival between cases with and without IgM-RD. No cases in this series met criteria for plasma cell type IgM MGUS as defined in the 2022 International Consensus Classification of lymphoid neoplasms. These results show IgM-RD to be common in patients with IgM MGUS. While CAD shows distinctive features, the remaining cases of IgM-RD largely show pathologic findings similar to IgM MGUS without IgM-RD.