Successful treatment of multicentric Castleman's disease accompanying myeloma with bortezomib

Coexistence of HHV-8-Associated Plasmacytic Multicentric Castleman Disease, Kaposi's Sarcoma, and Multiple Myeloma in a HIV-Negative Patient

Background

Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is a rare, aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder. Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) has an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease and its association with Kaposi's sarcoma has been reported, especially in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In this report, we present the case of HHV-8 positive MCD accompanied by Kaposi's sarcoma and multiple myeloma in an HIV-negative patient.

Case Report

A 78-year-old man with Kaposi's sarcoma presented with B symptoms, pancytopenia, lymphadenopathy, and splenomegaly. The bone marrow biopsy demonstrated 70% lambda-restricted monotypic plasma cell infiltration consistent with plasma dyscrasia. Also, the patient was diagnosed with HHV-8 positive MCD as a result of inguinal lymph node excisional biopsy. Treatment was initiated including ganciclovir and methylprednisolone and followed by rituximab. The patient passed away at the 24th hour of rituximab infusion due to shock.

Conclusions

MCD and associated malignancies are difficult to treat and have a poor prognosis. More studies and data are needed to manage these patients.

LEARNING POINTS

Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD), often linked with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) and Kaposi's sarcoma, is rare and aggressive condition, particularly in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients.The coexistence of MCD, Kaposi's sarcoma, and multiple myeloma is exceptionally rare in HIV-negative, immunocompetent patient.This case highlights the challenges in diagnosing and managing complex presentations of MCD and related malignancies, with poor outcomes despite treatment.

Successful treatment with bortezomib in combination with dexamethasone in a middle-aged male with idiopathic multicentric Castleman's disease: A case report

Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is a heterogeneous, life-threatening disease. A subgroup of HIV-negative and HHV-8-negative MCD is defined as idiopathic MCD (iMCD) with a poor prognosis. Here we report an unusual case of a 47-year-old male patient with iMCD who experienced multiple treatment regimens such as chemotherapy, immunomodulatory therapy, and targeted therapy, all of which were considered ineffective. Subsequently, he was started on bortezomib in combination with dexamethasone for six cycles and he was in complete remission. The patient has survived nearly 13 years to date - the longest survival of any iMCD patient treated with bortezomib in combination with dexamethasone. Bortezomib combined with dexamethasone may be an effective salvage strategy for severe and refractory iMCD.

To and TAFRO - a cryptic cause of acute renal failure: a case report

Background

TAFRO syndrome is a rare clinical subtype of idiopathic multicentric Castlemans disease characterised by thrombocytopenia, anasarca, myelofibrosis, renal dysfunction, and organomegaly. Renal involvement is common, sometimes requiring temporary renal replacement therapy. Due to the associated thrombocytopenia, renal biopsies are rarely performed limiting descriptions of the renal histopathology in this condition. This case describes a patient with TAFRO syndrome and the associated renal histology.

Case presentation

A 49-year-old Caucasian man presented to a tertiary hospital in Sydney with a six- week history of malaise, non-bloody diarrhoea, progressive shortness of breath, and drenching night sweats. A progressive bicytopenia and renal function decline necessitating temporary dialysis prompted a bone marrow aspirate and trephine, as well as a renal biopsy respectively. This noted a hypercellular bone marrow with increased granulopoiesis, reduced erythropoiesis, and fibrosis, with renal histology suggesting a thrombotic microangiopathic-like glomerulopathy. Alternate conditions were excluded, and a diagnosis of TAFRO syndrome was made. Glucocorticoids and rituximab were initiated with rapid renal recovery, and normalisation of his haematologic parameters achieved at six months.

Conclusion

This case describes an atypical thrombotic microangiopathy as the predominant histologic renal lesion in a patient with TAFRO syndrome. This was responsive to immunosuppression with glucocorticoids and rituximab, highlighting the importance of early recognition of this rarely described condition.

Biologic Agents in the Treatment of Multicentric Castleman Disease

Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) causes an extensive range of systematic symptoms and can be life-threatening if not treated promptly and appropriately. The pathophysiology of the disease remains unclear; however, interleukin 6 (IL-6) pathway and human herpesvirus 8 infection appear to play an important role. As a result, the treatment of MCD remains complex and often insufficient, although a plethora of therapeutic approaches have been used. Between these, biological agents in the form of monoclonal antibodies against specific pathogenic processes of the disease have improved survival rates significantly. In the present study, we review the clinical results of rituximab, which targets B lymphocytes, siltuximab and tocilizumab, which target the IL-6 pathway, bortezomib, which is a selective proteasome inhibitor, and anakinra, which is an interleukin 1 receptor antagonist. The introduction of these biological agents in the treatment of MCD appears to be promising in the first studies performed. However, more clinical trials are required to assess the efficacy and safety of each agent and to form therapeutic strategies that will be widely accepted.

A rare case of multicentric castleman's disease transforms into multiple myeloma and its successful treatment

Multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) is a rare kind of lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by systemic problems such as frequent fever, fatigue and weight loss with angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia. However, unlike unicentric Castleman's disease (UCD) with long-time survival by surgery and local radiotherapy, MCD remains poor prognosis due to no well-defined optimal treatment strategies and high risk of developing malignances especially lymphoma. We reported a case of MCD who received chemotherapy by ECHOP with unsatisfactory outcome and then oral administration with thalidomide combined with prednisone without disease progression after therapy. After 3 y, his MCD turned into multiple myeloma (MM) and accompanied by obvious response to combination of thalidomide with prednisone. Nowadays, there is no standard of therapy yet established for MCD. We successfully treated one such patient and found thalidomide based therapy may have a significant effect on MCD. We also proposed further researches with therapeutic potential about thalidomide for MCD.

Update and new approaches in the treatment of Castleman disease

First described 60 years ago, Castleman disease comprises a rare and heterogeneous cluster of disorders, characterized by lymphadenopathy with unique histological features and associated with cytokine-driven constitutional symptoms and biochemical disturbances. Although unicentric Castleman disease is curable with complete surgical excision, its multicentric counterpart is a considerable therapeutic challenge. The recent development of biological agents, particularly monoclonal antibodies to interleukin-6 and its receptor, allow for more targeted disease-specific intervention that promises improved response rates and more durable disease control; however, further work is required to fill knowledge gaps in terms of underlying pathophysiology and to facilitate alternative treatment options for refractory cases.

HHV-8-negative, idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease: novel insights into biology, pathogenesis, and therapy

Multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) describes a heterogeneous group of disorders involving proliferation of morphologically benign lymphocytes due to excessive proinflammatory hypercytokinemia, most notably of interleukin-6. Patients demonstrate intense episodes of systemic inflammatory symptoms, polyclonal lymphocyte and plasma cell proliferation, autoimmune manifestations, and organ system impairment. Human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) drives the hypercytokinemia in all HIV-positive patients and some HIV-negative patients. There is also a group of HIV-negative and HHV-8-negative patients with unknown etiology and pathophysiology, which we propose referring to as idiopathic MCD (iMCD). Here, we synthesize what is known about iMCD pathogenesis, present a new subclassification system, and propose a model of iMCD pathogenesis. MCD should be subdivided into HHV-8-associated MCD and HHV-8-negative MCD or iMCD. The lymphocyte proliferation, histopathology, and systemic features in iMCD are secondary to hypercytokinemia, which can occur with several other diseases. We propose that 1 or more of the following 3 candidate processes may drive iMCD hypercytokinemia: systemic inflammatory disease mechanisms via autoantibodies or inflammatory gene mutations, paraneoplastic syndrome mechanisms via ectopic cytokine secretion, and/or a non-HHV-8 virus. Urgent priorities include elucidating the process driving iMCD hypercytokinemia, identifying the hypercytokine-secreting cell, developing consensus criteria for diagnosis, and building a patient registry to track cases.