I had some blood tests done recently and my lgm level is over 1100. I am scheduled for a bone marrow biopsy next week.What is lgm?

[cathylc58]

My doctor thinks I have cancer.

[allanah]

Sorry I am not at all expert on this but I really hope your tests go well and the biopsy results are better than your doctor thinks. Good luck xx

[helixhelix]

Very sorry to hear this, let's hope that there's room for doubt or something very treatable. I don't know what Lgm is, but there's a useful website labtestsonline.org.uk that has a good reputation and may give you a better idea.

[earthwitch]

IgM is an immunoglobulin. From what Ive read its usually high in the case of infection. I couldn't find anything about it with cancer.

[wiliby]

Hello, this sounded familiar and I found the following on Wikipedia (so not always accurate)

Rheumatoid factor (RF) is the autoantibody (antibody directed against an organism's own tissues) that was first found in rheumatoid arthritis. It is defined as an antibody against the Fc portion of IgG. RF and IgG join to form immune complexes that contribute to the disease process.[1]

A doctor friend described this test to me as my result was 1200. He said that basically they take the blood sample and add a drop of water to dilute the anti body, so if you result was 20 then it only took 20 drop before the anti body was un detectable, so for you it took 1100 drops. Does that makes sense?

As I was showing classic symptoms of RA then no further tests (such as bone marrow) were carried out. It was just conclusive that I definitely had RA.

Our results are very high and the highest my doctor had come across. I was terrified that my RA would not be controlled as I read somewhere if it was over 300 then your RA was likely to be aggressive, but it was with the odd 'blip' now 3 years diagnosed and no signs of damage. I know you didn,t ask this but thought I,d tell you anyway!!

I have also read as earthwitch mentions, that it can also signify infection.

Really hope your okay and get to the bottom of it soon.