Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia

ALDENSTROM'S macroglobulinemia (WM) ac- counts for approximately 2% of hematologic cancers and affects approximately 1,500 Americans each year. The disease is more frequent among older persons and there may be a genetic predisposition, as suggested by family clusters."' The original description of WM focused on bone marrow infiltration by plasmacytoid lymphocytes and a high level of circulating macroglobulin (IgM).3 Many aspects of the biology and clinical features of this disease were summarized r e ~e n t l y . ~, ~ This review focuses on recent advances in the pathogenesis of complications caused by the elevated IgM and on the treatment of macroglobulinemic lymphoma.