Home > Encyclopedia of Medicine > Beta2-Microglobulin Test

Definition

Beta₂-microglobulin is a protein found on the surface of many cells. Testing is done primarily when evaluating a person for certain kinds of cancer affecting white blood cells including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and multiple myeloma or kidney disease.

Purpose

Beta₂-microglobulin is plentiful on the surface of white blood cells. Increased production or destruction of these cells causes Beta₂-microglobulin levels in the blood to increase. This increase is seen in people with cancers involving white blood cells, but it is particularly meaningful in people newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a malignancy (cancer) of a certain kind of white blood cell, called a plasma cell. At the time...