Plasmablastic lymphoma in an elderly immunocompetent patient

Case Report: Successful Management of a Refractory Plasmablastic Lymphoma Patient With Tislelizumab and Lenalidomide

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare and aggressive hematological malignancy. PBL commonly occurs in immune incompetent patients, such as those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), post-transplant status, or immunosenescence. Given its rarity, there is no specific standard treatment for PBL. However, small case series have shown that intensive chemotherapies combined with anti-myeloma agents such as bortezomib and lenalidomide were effective in treating PBL. Unfortunately, some fragile patients could not tolerate intensive chemotherapeutic regimens, especially the elderly patients. Here we presented a 76-year-old female PBL patient refractory to miniCHOP regimen combined with bortezomib but achieved complete remission when treated with tislelizumab combined with lenalidomide, indicating that immune therapy may be a potential treatment for PBL. To our knowledge, this is the first chemoresistant PBL patient that has been successfully treated with checkpoint inhibitor plus lenalidomide, thus providing new insight towards PBL management.

[Clinical characteristics and survival analysis of eight cases HIV-negative plasmablastic lymphoma]

目的

提高对人免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）阴性浆母细胞淋巴瘤的认识。

方法

回顾性分析北京协和医院1997年1月至2015年5月确诊的8例HIV阴性浆母细胞淋巴瘤患者的临床资料，分析其临床特征及转归。

结果

8例HIV阴性浆母细胞淋巴瘤中男3例，女5例，中位年龄60（43~80）岁，其中4例存在导致免疫功能低下的疾病或状态。8例患者均有结外受累，2例Ann Arbor分期为Ⅰ~Ⅱ期，6例为Ⅳ期，其中5例有骨髓受累。所有患者均弥漫表达CD38和CD138，B细胞标志包括PAX-5及Bcl-6少见。5例患者进行EBV-DNA检测，均为阴性。接受化疗并规律随访的7例患者中位随访36（11~57）个月，中位无进展生存时间为15（6~52）个月，中位总生存时间为36（2~52）个月；其中4例采用了硼替佐米联合化疗，3例有效，但疗效难以维持，分别于治疗后2、9、21个月疾病进展。2例Ⅰ~Ⅱ期患者均治疗有效，未出现疾病进展，持续存活；5例Ⅳ期患者化疗后虽然有效，但疗效难以维持，中位总生存时间仅12（6~52）个月，中位无进展生存时间仅10（2~21）个月。

结论

该组HIV阴性浆母细胞淋巴瘤患者以中老年为主，临床呈现高侵袭性，均出现结外（尤其是骨髓）受累，其免疫表型与浆细胞瘤较为接近，分期较晚的患者预后不良。

Human immunodeficiency virus-negative plasmablastic lymphoma: A case report and literature review

RATIONALE

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare subtype of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that predominantly manifests in the oral cavity.

PATIENT CONCERNS

Three cases of HIV-negative PBL were reported.

DIAGNOSES

HIV-negative PBL INTERVENTIONS:: The patient had undergone chemotherapy.

OUTCOMES

Clinical outcomes were very poor in Cases 1 and 3; Case 2, whose diagnosis suggested no bone marrow involvement, is still alive.

LESSONS SUBSECTIONS

These cases served to broaden the reported clinical spectrum of HIV-negative PBL. Clinicians and pathologists need to be familiar with lymphoma in the identified extra-oral PBL variation and there levant differential diagnosis procedures for this particular disease.

Epstein-Barr virus-positive plasmacytoma in immunocompetent patients

AIMS

Extramedullary plasmacytomas are often localized, clinically indolent neoplasms, and affected patients usually respond to radiation therapy or limited cycles of chemotherapy. In contrast, plasmablastic lymphomas are clinically aggressive neoplasms composed of immunoblastic or plasmablastic cells and associated with more mature plasma cells in some cases. Patients with plasmablastic lymphoma usually have a poor prognosis despite aggressive chemotherapy. Evidence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is uncommon in plasmacytoma, but common in plasmablastic lymphoma, and is therefore helpful in differential diagnosis. The aim of this study is to describe four cases of plasmacytoma arising in immunocompetent individuals that were diffusely positive for Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA as shown by in-situ hybridization.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We describe the clinicopathological and immunophenotypic findings of four EBV-positive plasmacytomas arising in immunocompetent patients. These tumours were characterized by diffuse proliferation of mature-appearing plasma cells intermixed with a briskly reactive, CD8-positive, TIA-1-positive cytotoxic T-cell infiltrate. Long-term follow-up was available for all patients, and all were alive and free of disease at last follow-up (median 43.4 months).

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest the term EBV-positive plasmacytoma in immunocompetent patients for these lesions. It is essential to distinguish these tumours from plasmablastic lymphoma, as the latter diagnosis is associated with a much poorer prognosis, and patients require much more aggressive therapy.

Human immunodeficiency virus-negative plasmablastic lymphoma: a comprehensive analysis of 114 cases

Human immunodeficiency virus-negative plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is an extremely rare entity. Its clinicopathological features, optimal treatment strategy and prognostic factors remain obsure. An extensive search was performed in the English language literature within the Pubmed database using the key words: ‘plasmablastic lymphoma and human immunodeficiency virus-negative or immunocompetent’. Data from 114 patients from 52 articles were analyzed. The mean patient age at diagnosis was 58.90 years (range, 2–86). HIV-negative PBL showed a predilection for elderly individuals (patients older than 60 years, 56.14%) and affected more males than females (M:F, 2.29:1). Ann Arbor stage IV patients accounted for 39.22% while bone marrow involvement was less frequent (12.79%). The Ki-67 index was high with a mean expression of 83%. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection was common being positive in 58.70% of the patients while herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) infection was rare being positive in only 7.55% of the patients. Immunosuppression was noted in 28.16% of patients. The median overall survival (OS) was 19 months. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 52.3 and 45.3%, respectively. Age, gender and primary site showed no strong relationship with OS while Immunosuppression, Ann Arbor stage IV and EBV negativity were able to predict a poorer OS. Either complete remission (CR) or partial remission (PR) was superior to the refractory group in OS (P<0.0001 and P=0.0066, respectively). For stage I patients, the application of radiotherapy did not improve the OS. In conclusion, HIV-negative PBL is a distinct entity likely occurring in elderly and immunosuppressed individuals. Immunosuppression status, Ann Arbor stage IV, EBV negativity and refractory to treatment are poor prognostic factors of OS in HIV-negative PBL.

EBV associated lymphomas in 2008 WHO classification

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous γ-herpes virus that asymptomatically infects more than 90% of the world's population. The exact mechanism of EBV in oncogenesis is an area of active debate. However, EBV has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several kinds of lymphomas and lymphoproliferative disorders, including B-, T- and NK-cell derived. Subsequent studies have proven that the EBV gene expression product plays an activating and/or promoting role on lymphomagenesis, and paves the way for novel cellular therapies of EBV-associated lymphomas. This review concentrates on the pathology, morphology, treatment and prognosis of EBV-associated lymphomas in the 2008 WHO classification of tumors of hematopoietic and lymphoma tissues.