[Clinical Characteristics for Cutaneous Involvement in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Hemophagocytic Syndrome...

To present one patient initially diagnosed with dermatomyositis(DM) who was eventually revealed to be diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL) complicated with hemophagocytic syndrome(HPS), and to improve the understanding of the disease.

The clinical characteristics, diagnostic approach, treatment of the patient were retrospectively analyzed, and some related literatures were reviewed.

A 52-year-old female patient suffered from muscle weakness, elevated serum creatine kinase activity, electromyography changes and characteristic skin rashes and diagnosed as DM. The patient was treated with glucocorticoid therapy and the muscle strength, skin rashes, and creatine kinas index turns into remission. Subsequently, subcutaneous nodules appeared during treatment, and the patient was confirmed as DLBCL based on pathological biopsy; And the patient was considered HPS because of presenting with repeated fever, splenomegaly, cytopenias, hypofibrinogenemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperferritinemia, high levels of sCD25, low NK-cell activity and hemophagocytosis in bone marrow. But the patient refused chemotherapy, and only treated with "DXM+VP-16" to control hemophagocytic syndrome, and unfortunately died due to the disease progression.

Cutaneous involvement in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and hemophagocytic syndrome patients with first presentation of dermatomyositis is relatively rare. Malignacy screening should be performed as soon as possible after newly diagnosed DM, so that the patient can get early diagnosis and effective treatment to improve survival rate.