Recent advances in Langerhans cell histiocytosis

Fever and Skin Involvement at Diagnosis Predicting the Intractable Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: 40 Case-Series in a Single Center

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) occurs as a clonal disease with enigmatic immune responses. LCH patients occasionally present with fever, although the significance remains elusive. We investigated the predicting factors for developing intractable disease of refractory and/or reactivated LCH. In total, 40 pediatric LCH patients managed in Kyushu University from 1998 to 2014 were enrolled. The medical records were analyzed retrospectively. Sixteen patients suffered from multisystem (MS) LCH involving risk organs (ROs) (n=4) or not (n=12). In total, 24 patients had single-system LCH affecting bone (multi n=8, single n=13), skin (n=2), or lymph node lesions (n=1). Eight patients had the intractable disease of 7 MS or 1 multibone LCH. Two patients died from MS LCH with or without RO involvement. Ten patients showed persistent fever (>38°C) at onset. Intractable cases had fever, RO and skin involvement, leukocytosis, coagulopathy, microcytic anemia, higher levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor and C-reactive protein, more frequently at diagnosis. Multivariate analysis indicated that fever and skin lesions at diagnosis were independently associated with the intractability (odds ratio: fever, 35.5; 95% confidence interval, 3.0-1229.1; skin lesions, 24.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-868.7). Initial fever and skin involvement might predict the development of intractable and fatal-risk LCH even without the RO involvement.

The application of x-ray, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging on 22 pediatric Langerhans cell histiocytosis patients with long bone involvement: A retrospective analysis

The studies focusing on x-ray, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pediatric Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) patients were still rare. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the application of x-ray, CT, and MRI in pediatric LCH patients with long bone involvement.Total 22 pediatric LCH patients were included in this study. The diagnosis of LCH was confirmed by pathological examination. All patients were followed up for 3 years. X-ray, CT, or MRI was performed and the results were recorded for further analyses.Among 22 pediatric patients, x-ray (n = 20), CT (n = 18), or MRI (n = 12) were used to scan the lesion on long bones affected by LCH. Femurs (n = 13, 38.24%), tibia (n = 11, 32.35%), humerus (n = 5, 14.71%), and radius (n = 4, 11.76%) were the most frequently affected anatomic sites. Ovoid or round radiolucent lesions, aggressive periosteal reaction, and swelling of surrounding soft tissues were characteristic image of long bones on x-ray, CT, and MRI in pediatric LCH.Femurs, tibia, humerus, and radius were the most commonly affected long bones of pediatric LCH. The application of x-ray, CT, and MRI on long bones could help with the diagnosis of pediatric LCH.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis in children - a disease with many faces. Recent advances in pathogenesis, diagnostic examinations and treatment

Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a rare clonal disease characterized by the proliferation of CD1a-positive immature dendritic cells. The purpose of this article was to present an updated review of recent advances in the pathogenesis, clinical features, imaging and treatment of this disease. The discovery of oncogenic BRAF mutations and the presence of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines confirmed the unusual characteristics of this disease. Currently, children with organ involvement who do not have a good response to chemotherapy and have neurodegeneration or diabetes insipidus are the most problematic patients. Further research is needed to improve the results of treatment.

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: A Diagnostic Challenge in the Oral Cavity

Background

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disorder of the reticuloendothelial system with unknown etiology. This report aims to present a case of LCH with diffuse involvement of the oral cavity and to raise awareness of the distinguishing features of this diagnostically challenging entity.

Case Report

A 26-year-old male patient presented with complaints of teeth mobility, intense pain, and difficulty in chewing. Intraoral and radiological examinations revealed generalized gingival hyperplasia and severe teeth mobility with widespread alveolar bone loss. Periodontal therapy was performed with no significant improvement. An incisional biopsy revealed Langerhans cells and positive reaction to S-100 and CD1, and the patient was diagnosed with LCH. The patient underwent systemic chemotherapy with vinca alkaloids and corticosteroids. Regression of gingival lesions, as well as significant decrease in mobility of the remaining teeth and severity of pain, was achieved during 12 months of follow-up.

Conclusion

The rarity and variable system involvement of LCH necessitate a multidisciplinary approach be carried out for accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and an uneventful follow-up. Awareness of oral manifestations of LCH may aid clinicians greatly in reducing morbidity and mortality associated with this debilitating condition.

Inflammatory serum cytokines and chemokines increase associated with the disease extent in pediatric Langerhans cell histiocytosis

OBJECTIVE

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is characterized by immature dendritic cell proliferation, infiltration of LCH lesions by various inflammatory cells, and a lesional cytokine storm. It is classified into three groups on the basis of disease extent, namely, multisystem with risk-organ involvement (MS+), multisystem without risk-organ involvement (MS-), and single-system (SS) disease. We comprehensively analyzed whether serum levels of cytokines/chemokines reflect the disease extent.

METHODS

Serum samples from 52 children with LCH (eight, 25, and 19 with MS+, MS-, and SS, respectively) and 34 control children were analyzed quantitatively for 48 humoral factors. DNA samples extracted from biopsied LCH lesions from 12 patients were tested for BRAF V600E status.

RESULTS

The LCH patients had significantly higher serum levels of IL-1Ra, IL-3, IL-6, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL12, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, IL-18, TNF-α, G-CSF, M-CSF, MIF, HGF, VEGF, CCL2, CCL3, CCL7, CXCL1, and CXCL9 than the controls by univariate analysis. Of these IL-9, IL-15 and MIF were significant by multivariate analysis; but not differed between MS and SS diseases. MS disease associated with significantly higher IL-2R, IL-3, IL-8, IL-18, M-CSF, HGF, CCL2, CXCL1, and CXCL9 levels than SS disease by univariate analysis. Of these, CCL2 and M-CSF were significant by multivariate analysis. IL-18 levels were significantly higher in MS+ disease than MS- disease. The LCH patients with BRAF V600E mutation had higher serum levels of CCL7.

CONCLUSION

Numerous inflammatory cytokines and chemokines play a role in LCH. Of those, more specific ones reflect the disease extent (MS vs. SS and MS+ vs. MS-) or the BRAF V600E mutation status. It is thought that the most responsible cytokines and chemokines involved in the poor outcome may become future candidate therapeutic targets in LCH.

Late-Onset Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis with Cerebellar Ataxia as an Initial Symptom

Late-onset progressive cerebellar ataxia is a diagnostic challenge because of a poor correlation between genotype and phenotype, and a broad range of secondary causes that extend beyond the neurological field. We report the case of a 45-year-old woman admitted after 2 years of slowly progressing cerebellar ataxia, dysarthria, and emotional instability. Notably, she was diagnosed with diabetes insipidus at the age of 35. As ‘idiopathic cerebellar ataxia’ was suspected, diagnostic tests, including genetic testing as well as serum and cerebrospinal fluid analyses, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed. All results were normal except those of MRI, performed 9 months prior to admission, which showed multiple dot-like white matter lesions with unclear cause. On a repeated brain MRI, a new lesion presenting as a 1.5-cm-sized highly enhancing mass attached to the right frontal skull was found. A sharply marginated lytic skull defect was also evident on skull X-ray, which corresponded to the lesion mass. Given these new radiological findings, a systemic review of the patient's medical history for rare secondary causes of cerebellar ataxia was performed, with particular attention to her past ‘diabetes insipidus’. The mass, lytic lesion of the skull, white matter lesion, diabetes insipidus, and cerebellar ataxia all suggested a final diagnosis of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), which was confirmed histopathologically. This is a rare case of late-onset LCH with an unusual initial symptom which underlines the importance of carefully reviewing the patient's medical history and broadening the search for etiologies beyond the nervous system.

Social/economic costs and health-related quality of life in patients with histiocytosis in Europe

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the economic burden from a societal perspective and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with histiocytosis in Europe.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients with histiocytosis from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, the UK, and Sweden. Data on demographic characteristics, health resource utilisation, informal care, loss of labour productivity and HRQOL were collected from the questionnaires completed by patients or their caregivers. HRQOL was measured with the EuroQol 5-domain (EQ-5D) questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 134 patients (35 France, 32 Germany, 30 Italy, 24 Spain, 7 Bulgaria, 4 UK and 2 Sweden) completed the questionnaire. The average annual costs ranged from € 6832 to € 33,283 between countries, the year of reference being 2012. Estimated direct healthcare costs ranged from € 1698 to € 18,213; direct nonhealthcare costs ranged from € 2936 to € 17,622 and labour productivity losses ranged from € 1 to € 8855. The mean EQ-5D score for adult histiocytosis patients was estimated at between 0.32 and 0.85, and the mean EQ-5D visual analogue scale score was estimated at between 50.00 and 66.50.

CONCLUSION

The main strengths of this study lie in our bottom-up approach to costing and in the evaluation of histiocytosis patients from a broad perspective (societal costs). This type of analysis is very scarce in international literature for rare diseases in comparison with other illnesses. We conclude that histiocytosis patients incur considerable societal costs and experience substantial deterioration in HRQOL.

Solitary Langerhans cell histiocytosis in an adult: case report and literature review

Background

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a disease that often affects children, but can also occur in adults and smokers. Oral manifestations are unusual and are characterized by bone pain, tooth mobility, necrotic ulcers and local edema. The aim of this paper is to describe a clinical case of LCH in an oral cavity that mimicked oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Case presentation

A male, 63 years old, complaining about a “wound in the mouth” for 6 months, without any pain or spontaneous bleeding. His medical history was free of disease. The patient was a smoker for 33 years. Intraoral examination revealed a destructive ulcerative lesion around the upper left first and second molars that resembled an oral squamous cell carcinoma. Biopsy of the ulcerative lesion was performed and the microscopic features showed an inflammatory infiltrate rich in plasma cells. Based on this microscopical finding, the final diagnosis was periodontal disease associated with a proliferative non-neoplastic lesion. The patient was referred to a specialized dental surgeon and underwent periodontal therapy including surgical procedures. After that, according to follow-up with the patient, there were no signs of disease remission. The lesion increased in size, although the patient did not complain of any symptoms. A second biopsy was performed and the microscopic features again showed a rich inflammatory infiltrate with mononuclear cells and histiocytic cells, characterized by pale histiocytes with lobed nuclei, resembling a bean. A varying number of eosinophils also were observed, without any evidence of atypical cells present in this infiltrate. An immunohistochemical staining panel was done to determine the nature of this inflammatory infiltrate by using antibodies S-100, CD1a, CD-68 and CD45RO that were positive. These immunohistochemical findings were fundamental for the final diagnosis of LCH. The treatment included surgical extraction of all superior teeth, radiation and systemic corticoid therapies. After 8 years of treatment, the patient is free of disease.

Conclusion

Although LCH is an unusual lesion in an oral cavity, it can be present. Biopsy and a histological exam are essential to establish the diagnosis. Immunohistochemicals were fundamental to exclude malignant lesion and to confirm the diagnosis of LCH.

Acute-phase ITIH4 levels distinguish multi-system from single-system Langerhans cell histiocytosis via plasma peptidomics

BACKGROUND

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a proliferative disorder in which abnormal Langerhans cell (LC)-like cells (LCH cells) intermingle with inflammatory cells. Whether LCH is reactive or neoplastic remains a controversial matter. We recently described Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) as a possible causative agent of LCH and proposed interleukin-1 loop model: LCH is a reactive disorder with an underlying oncogenic potential and we now propose to test this theory by looking for acute markers of inflammation. We detected MCPyV-DNA in the peripheral blood cells of patients with high-risk organ-type (LCH-risk organ (RO) (+)) but not those with non-high-risk organ-type LCH (LCH-RO (-)); this difference was significant. LCH-RO (-) is further classified by its involvement of either a single organ system (SS-LCH) or multiple organ systems (MS-LCH). In patients with LCH-RO (-), MCPyV-DNA sequences were present in LCH tissues, and significant differences were observed between LCH tissues and control tissues associated with conditions such as dermatopathic lymphadenopathy and reactive lymphoid hyperplasia. Although MCPyV causes subclinical infection in nearly all people and 22 % of healthy adults will harbor MCPyV in their buffy coats, circulating monocytes could serve as MCPyV reservoirs and cause disseminated skin lesions.

METHODS

Plasma sample from 12 patients with LCH-RO (-) (5 MS-LCH and 7 SS-LCH) and 5 non-LCH patients were analyzed by peptidomics. Mass spectrometry (MS) spectra were acquired and peptides exhibiting quantitative differences between MS-LCH and SS-LCH patients were targeted.

RESULTS

One new candidate biomarker, m/z 3145 was selected and identified after obtaining a MS/MS fragmentation pattern using liquid chromatography-MS/MS. This peak was identified as a proteolytic fragment derived from inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 4 (ITIH4, [PDB: Q14624]).

CONCLUSIONS

Peptidomics of LCH have revealed that the level of acute-phase ITIH4 distinguishes MS-LCH-RO (-) from SS-LCH-RO (-). Acute-phase proteins serve non-specific, physiological immune functions within the innate immune system. LCH may be a reactive disorder with both underlying neoplastic potential of antigen presenting cells harboring BRAF mutations and hyper-immunity of other inflammatory cells against MCPyV infection. Among LCH-RO (-), MCPyV-DNA sequences were present in both MS-LCH tissues and SS-LCH tissues without significant differences. ITIH4 may show that LCH activity or LCH subtypes correlates with the systemic or localized reactions of MCPyV infection.

High serum osteopontin levels in pediatric patients with high risk Langerhans cell histiocytosis

Osteopontin (OPN) acts as an osteoclast activator, a proinflammatory cytokine, and a chemokine attracting histiocytes/monocytes and is abundantly expressed in Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). We investigated whether serum OPN levels are related to disease types in LCH. Fifty-eight newly diagnosed LCH patients were studied; eight with risk organ (liver, spleen and/or hematopoietic) involvements positive multisystem (MS+) disease, 27 with risk organ involvement negative multisystem (MS-) disease and 23 with single system (SS) disease. Pediatric patients with non-inflammatory disease (n=27) were used as controls. All of patients with MS+ disease were younger than 3 years. Serum OPN levels and 44 kinds of humoral factors were measured by ELISA and Bio-Plex suspension array system, respectively. In the patients younger than 3 years, the median serum OPN level (interquartile range) was 240.3 ng/ml (137.6-456.0) in MS+ (n=8); 92.7 ng/ml (62.0-213.8) in MS- (n=14) and 72.5 ng/ml (55.6-94.0) in SS (n=9) and 74.4 ng/ml (42.2-100.0) in control (n=12). The OPN values were significantly higher in the MS+ group than the MS-, SS and control groups (p=0.044, p=0.001 and p=0.002, respectively), but not different between the MS-, SS and control groups. In the patients older than 3 years, the median level of serum OPN (IQR) was 56.2 ng/ml (22.9-77.5) in MS- (n=13), 58.9 ng/ml (31.0-78.7) in SS (n=14) and 41.9 (28.9-54.1) in control (n=15). These values did not differ significantly between each group. The serum OPN levels were positively correlated with the serum IL-6, CCL2, IL-18, IL-8 and IL-2 receptor concentration. OPN may be involved in risk organ dissemination and poor prognosis of LCH through the function as inflammatory cytokine/chemokine.