The incidence of monoclonal proteins during 7 years of screening in a District General Hospital.

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of monoclonal proteins, during a 7-year period, in the population served by a typical District General Hospital. 183,300 sera were electrophoresed and 804 monoclonal proteins were detected. Various biochemical prognostic criteria, such as the concentration of monoclonal protein, incidence of Bence-Jones protein and the presence of reduced polyclonal immunoglobulins, were studied in an attempt to assess the benign or malignant nature of the monoclonal protein. In this study, 75% of the patients with monoclonal proteins fulfilled at least one of these criteria, demonstrating the importance of long-term monitoring.