1.LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115. giada_bianchi@dfci.harvard.edu; kenneth_anderson@dfci.harvard.edu
Mu heavy chain disease (HCD) is the most rare variant of HCD, a family of syndromes associated with or representing a B cell malignancy variant. The hallmark characteristic and the pathogenic mechanism of HCD is the synthesis of a mutant, misfolded immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) which cannot form a quaternary conformation with the immunoglobulin light chain (IgL) and/or be degraded by the proteasome. The isotype of mutated IgH (α,γ or μ) determines the nomenclature of HCD subtypes. Less than 50 cases of mu HCD have been reported. The first two cases of mu HCD were described in the 1970s. The disease was diagnosed in men in their late fifties complaining of unremitting joint pain/stiffness. Mu HCD affects predominantly Caucasian men in their 5th-6th decades. Similar to the other HCD, the etiopathogenesis of mu HCD is unknown, but most patients have a concurrent lymphoproliferative disorder resembling chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). There are single case reports of mu HCD in association with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), systemic amyloidosis, and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).(Witzens et al., 1998; Kinoshita et al., 2004) Association of mu HCD with recurrent pulmonary infections, portal hypertension, systemic lupus erythematosus, and pancytopenia has also been described.(Wahner-Roedler and Kyle, 2005) Presenting symptoms/signs of mu HCD are secondary to the associated lymphoproliferative disorder: the majority of patients have splenomegaly: 75% patients present with hepatomegaly; and 40% patients have superficial lymphadenopathy. In the first case reports of mu HCD and in 20% cases overall, patients presented with lytic bone lesions associated with lymphocytic infiltration of the bone marrow space.
Kenneth C. Anderson ; Giada Bianchi
Mu heavy chain disease
Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haematol. 2016-06-01
Online version: http://atlasgeneticsoncology.org/haematological/1740/mu-heavy-chain-disease