Cryopathic gangrene with an IgM lambda cryoprecipitating cold agglutinin

• Published in: Cancer Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 1826 - 1833
• Main Authors: Kuenn, Jerry W., Weber, Richard, Teague, Perry O., Keitt, Alan S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.10.1978
• Subjects: Adult; Agglutinins; Autoantibodies; Breast Neoplasms - complications; Chlorambucil - therapeutic use; Cryoglobulins; Female; Gangrene - complications; Graves Disease - complications; Humans; Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains; Immunoglobulin M; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - complications; Lymphoproliferative Disorders - complications; Lymphoproliferative Disorders - therapy; Paraproteinemias - complications; Paraproteinemias - therapy; Plasmapheresis; Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia - complications; Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia - therapy
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(197810)42:4<1826::AID-CNCR2820420422>3.0.CO;2-X

Immunochemical and serologic studies of cold agglutinins in patients with chronic cold agglutinin disease (CCAD) have shown the almost exclusive occurrence of IgM kappa antibodies with specificity for the I antigen of red cells. An unusual subgroup of patients has been delineated in which the cryoprotein is IgM lambda, frequently lacks I specificity and often cryoprecipitates. Studies of such a protein from a patient with an unusual array of immunoproliferative disorders including Grave's disease with exophthalmos and Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia indicate that the cryoprecipitating and cold agglutinating properties probably derive from the same protein. The occurrence of this type of antibody should suggest the presence of a more aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder than simple CCAD. Cancer 42:1826‐1833, 1978.