ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy caused by the intense indiscriminate proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow. In view of clinical suspicion of MM, clinic laboratory tests and imaging tests should be used, among others.
Objectives:
Evaluate the laboratory test for protein detection heat method Bence Jones (BJ) used to complementary diagnosis pathology and to characterize the epidemiological profile of patients diagnosed with MM.
Material and methods:
A retrospective study was conducted from January 2010 to July 2015 of the patients treated at Hospital de Clínicas of Universidade Federal do Paraná (HC/UFPR) in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
Results:
In the patients analyzed, the average age at diagnosis of MM was 65.6 years, with a minimum percentage of difference between genders [males 52.6% (n = 10) and females 47.4% (n = 9)], predominantly in the white race [84.2% (n = 16)]. Among the patients analyzed, 85.2% (n = 104) had negative BJ exam and 14.8 (n = 18), positive exam; 84.4% (n = 103) had no diagnosis of MM, and 15.6% (n = 19) were diagnosed with the disease.
Conclusion:
The evaluation results of BJ protein detection by the heat method showed sensitivity of 47.4%, specificity of 91.3%, with positive and negative predictive values of 50% and 90.4%, respectively.
Key words:
Bence Jones protein; multiple myeloma; urine