B Cell Lymphoma In Association with Multiple Myeloma: Analysis of the Biologic Relationship

The occurrence of a secondary lymphoma in patients with a prior history of B-cell lymphomas has been reported.^{1, 2}  There are few reported occurrences of Multiple Myeloma (MM) in patients (pts) with a prior history of lymphoma and the biologic relationship between the two neoplasms in such cases is unknown.

We queried our IRB approved clinicopathologic database of hematologic malignancies for patients with lymphoma and MM. Of the 4165 pts with B-cell lymphoma and 804 pts with MM, 6 pts with a history of B-cell lymphoma developed MM and 1 patient with a prior history of MM developed a B-cell lymphoma. We describe the morphology, immunophenotype, and clinical features of the 7 pts. The clonal relationship of the 2 components was analyzed using sequencing analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IgVH) genes and by light chain restriction.

There were 5 men and 2 women (median age of diagnosis of lymphoma, 65 years; median age of diagnosis of MM, 71 years). The pts with lymphoma included 2 pts with diffuse large B cell lymphoma, 2 pts with small lymphocytic lymphoma, 2 pts with follicular lymphoma and 1 patient with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. The development of MM was metachronous in 5 cases, following B-cell lymphoma by 3 years to 23 years and synchronous in 1 case. In 1 patient, the B-cell lymphoma developed 6 years after the diagnosis of MM. 6 pts achieved complete remission after treatment for lymphoma and 1 patient is ongoing treatment. 6 of the 7 pts required treatment for MM soon after diagnosis. 1 patient has smoldering MM and continues to be observed 57 months after diagnosis. FISH analysis indicated IgH rearrangement in 3 pts with MM; 1 patient with 17p deletion and monosomy 13; 3 pts had normal FISH and metaphase cytogenetics.

In 3 pts, both neoplasms were kappa light chain restricted; in 1 patient both were lambda restricted; in 1 patient, the lymphoma was lambda light chain restricted while the MM was kappa light chain restricted and the reverse in another pt; in 1 patient the B-cell lymphoma was light chain negative and the MM was kappa restricted. IgVH rearrangement studies in 4 patients in whom tissue samples were available indicated that the two were clonally unrelated in 3 patients and related in only 1 patient.

Clonality analysis of rearranged immunoglobulin genes from patients with both B-cell lymphoma and MM provide evidence of separate clonal origins of the two tumors in the majority of cases, thus excluding secondary transformation of the original B-cell clone. The presence or absence of a genetic predisposition to the development of multiple B cell malignancies requires further study.³ 

Off Label Use: The combination of lenalidomide and everolimue is an off label use in multiple myeloma. Abramson:Genentech: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy. Raje:Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astra Zeneca: Research Funding; Millenium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Acetylon: Research Funding.