Increasing the Interval of Canakinumab Administration Effectively Supports the Remission of Schnitzler’s Syndrome

Schnitzler’s syndrome (SchS) is a rare, disabling, autoinflammatory disorder characterized by recurrent urticarial rash and monoclonal IgM gammopathy. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of SchS. Only anecdotal reports demonstrate the efficiency and safety of human monoclonal anti-human IL-1β antibody (canakinumab) use in SchS therapy. However, there are no generally accepted recommendations concerning the scheme (or frequency) of canakinumab use for this disease. Here, we report the effective long-term treatment of SchS in a 44-year-old male with a standard canakinumab dose (150 mg) but with an increased 4-month injection interval

Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma of the Submandibular Salivary Gland as an Unusual Manifestation of Richter’s Syndrome: A Case Report and Literature Review

Richter’s syndrome is the development of high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or Hodgkin lymphoma in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). In most patients with Richter’s syndrome, the high-grade NHL is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Only a small minority of CLL/SLL patients develop T-cell malignancies. Herein, we describe a 40-year-old male patient presenting with peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) in the submandibular salivary gland, two years after the diagnosis of CLL/SLL. The PTCL-NOS consisted of small lymphocytes, which complicated diagnosis. Immunohistochemical, cytological, and molecular studies allowed the correct diagnosis of composite lymphoma (SLL/PTCL-NOS) of the submandibular salivary gland. The PTCL-NOS had a cytotoxic phenotype and aberrant expression of CD79a. There was no evidence to suggest that the PTCL-NOS of the submandibular salivary gland developed from an intimately associated submandibular lymph node or by PTCL-NOS dissemination. A review of the literature and presented case suppose that the PTCLs developed following CLL/SLL have the cytotoxic phenotype and can clinically mimic typical Richter’s syndrome

Simultaneous Occurrence of Rosai–Dorfman Disease and Nodal Marginal Zone Lymphoma in a Patient with Sjögren’s Syndrome

We present an exceptionally rare case of co-occurrence of Rosai–Dorfman disease (RDD) and nodal marginal zone lymphoma (NMZL) in a 60-year-old Caucasian female with a 20-year course of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). In response to treatment for lymphoma, the patient presented a short positive response, followed by a rapid progression of the disease accompanied by the development of the peripheral facial nerve palsy. We failed to detect Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in the NMZL/RDD sample by EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization but identified genomic DNA of EBV by polymerase chain reaction. A second biopsy revealed EBV-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), not otherwise specified. The identical clonal immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangements in the NMZL and DLBCL pointed to their clonal relationship. Though the role of EBV in the pathogenesis of some lymphomas is well-known, there have been only few cases of EBV-induced transformation of low-grade B-cell lymphoma into high-grade lymphoma and no cases of a patient with an NMZL background. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a concomitant occurrence of RDD and NMZL in a SS patient