Treatment of HIV-associated multicentric Castleman's disease with oral etoposide

Multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) is a lymphoproliferative disorder that can be defined based upon both clinical and pathological characteristics. The clinical features of this frequently fatal disease include fever, generalized lymphadenopathy, fatigue, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and pancytopenia. Recently, severe forms of this disease have been diagnosed in HIV positive patients. Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) DNA sequences have been detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with Kaposi's sarcoma and MCD, regardless of HIV infection status. Treatment and outcomes in HIV associated MCD are generally unfavorable. We recently treated two HIV-positive patients diagnosed with aggressive MCD with daily oral etoposide (50 mg). The first patient had relapsed on several occasions despite previous therapy with doxil, paclitaxel, and oral ganciclovir. The second patient was treatment naive. Both patients had HHV-8 detectable by polymerase chain reaction in PBMCs, widespread tumor, and B-type symptoms when therapy was initiated. In both cases remissions (documented by computerized tomography) have been durable, 1.5 and 6 months, respectively, with minimal side effects. Oral etoposide may be a safe, tolerable, and active agent in MCD.