Bortezomib in plasmablastic lymphoma: a case report and review of the literature

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). While classically associated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cases of PBL in immunocompetent patients have been increasingly described. PBL shares common morphological and immunohistochemical features with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and multiple myeloma (MM). Due to the rarity of PBL, there is no current consensual standard therapy available. As a result, PBL treatment is mirrored after aggressive NHL regimens. One of the newly emerged therapeutic options for PBL is bortezomib, which is a proteasome inhibitor and a cornerstone in MM therapy. In recently published cases, bortezomib has shown promising results in PBL.

In this report, we describe a patient with HIV-negative PBL who dramatically responded to bortezomib after failing several other lines of therapy. We also review 4 other, similar cases reported in the literature.

We conclude that bortezomib resulted in rapid and dramatical responses regardless of the line of therapy. Although most of these responses were not sustained, bortezomib represents a new therapeutic option for PBL that should be further explored in larger clinical trials.