Complete remission in 4 patients with human herpesvirus 8-associated multicentric castleman disease using rituximab and liposomal doxorubicin, a Novel chemotherapy combination

摘要

Plasmablastic-type multicentric Castleman disease (PMCD) is a rare, aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder Erst described by Frizzera and colleagues in 1983. Today, [he disease is most commonly diagnosed in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. It has been shown that PMCD is associated with Kaposi sarcoma, and a majority of patients with both conditions are infected by human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. The diagnosis is based on clinical, pathologic, and laboratory findings. The common clinical course is characterized by recurrent attacks of fever, generalized lymph-adenopathy, fatigue, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and anemia. The pathologic examination of involved lymph nodes or spleen frequently shows an increased number of follicles, some of which have atrophic, hyalinized germinal centers, increased vascularity, and sheets of plasma cells within the interfollicular areas.