Case Rep Gastroenterol 2011 May;5(2):262-6

Primary gastrointestinal diffuse large B cell lymphoma presenting with cold agglutinin disease.

Eskazan AE, Akmurad H, Ongoren S, Ozer O, Ferhanoglu B.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Istanbul, Turkey.

Abstract

Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is an autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) generally caused by IgM autoantibodies which exhibit maximal reactivity at 4°C. CAD can be idiopathic or secondary to some diseases and/or conditions. Only a minority of cases of secondary AIHA in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are associated with cold antibodies. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of NHLs with a proportion of nearly 30% of all adult cases. 40% of patients with DLBCL have an extranodal disease or at least disease initially confined to extranodal sites. The most common extranodal site is the gastrointestinal tract. We present a patient with primary gastrointestinal DLBCL who presented with CAD and was treated with a CHOP-Rituximab regimen.