Session 1 of the 2009 Workshop of the Society for Hematopathology/European Association of Haematopathology, Cleveland, OH, focused on plasma cell neoplasms. This report summarizes the salient diagnostic, clinical, and genetic features of plasma cell myeloma (PCM) and related neoplasms. Based on the cases submitted to the workshop, we highlight common diagnostic issues and unusual manifestations...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is endemic in South Africa. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) occurs with increased frequency in HIV seropositive individuals. The increase in NHL has been more marked in the last decade, with HIV being the major contributor to this increase. More than 70% of the adult NHL patients at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH), Soweto, Johannesburg, a...

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is an indolent lymphoma that transforms to high-grade lymphoma, mostly diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, in about a third of patients. We present the first report of a case of FL that transformed to plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL). Clonal transformation of the FL to PBL was evidenced by identical IGH/BCL2 gene rearrangements and VDJ gene usage in rearranged IGH genes. IGH/ BC...

Lymphomas in people living with HIV (PLWH) are associated Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi-sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). They include primary effusion lymphoma, large B-cell lymphoma arising multicentric Castleman disease, plasmablastic Burkitt diffuse Hodgkin (HL). Inclusion of these lymphomas the WHO classification tumors hematopoietic lymphoid tissues increasing recognition disor...

We report a 45-year-old male presenting with an intraoral mass originating from the right maxillary alveolar ridge. Radiologic investigations revealed osteolytic lesions in the right maxilla, skull, and lumbar vertebrae. This finding led to further investigations like electrophoresis of serum proteins for M band, quantitative estimation of immunoglobulins, urine electrophoresis for monoclonal l...

HIV-associated PBL is an AIDS-defining cancer, classified by WHO as a distinct entity of aggressive DLBCL. To date less than 250 cases have been published, of them 17 are pediatric. The pathogenesis of this rare disease is related to immunodeficiency, chronic immune stimulation and EBV. Clinically is a rapid growing destructive disease mainly involving the oral cavity even if extraoral and extr...

We report detailed clinicopathologic features of 3 cases of plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) with MYC/IgH rearrangement, representing one third of PBL cases diagnosed at our institution. This study brings the total number of reported cases in the literature to 6. All patients were HIV+ with very low CD4 counts at diagnosis. The involved locations were mediastinum, anus, and bone marrow. Tumors exhi...

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis is a rare genodermatosis characterized by inherited susceptibility to infection with certain papillomaviruses, which leads to the development of disseminated plane wart-like lesions. In some patients, lesions resembling pityriasis versicolor appear. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis has also been reported in immunosuppressed patients, most notably those with HIV in...