A Brief Review on Free Light Chain Assays: From Conventional to Current
- Author:
Siti Yazmin Zahari Sham
;
Subashini C. Thambiah
;
Intan Nureslyna Samsudin
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Free light chain, Monoclonal gammopathies, Urine protein electrophoresis, Serum free light chain assay.
- From:Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences
2017;13(2):59-62
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Free light chains (FLCs) are tumour markers of monoclonal gammopathies. Detection of urinary FLC or also known
as Bence-Jones protein through urinary protein and its immunofixation electrophoreses (UPE and uIFE, respectively)
have been considered the gold standard for its biochemical diagnosis. This is mainly due to their superior detection
limits compared to their counterpart investigations in serum. However, urinalysis is limited in many ways. The
emergence of serum FLC assay with markedly improved detection limit circumvents many of these problems and
has gained much importance in biochemical investigations of monoclonal gammopathies. Nevertheless, they are not
without limitations. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of serum and urinary FLC assays.
