[Interferon-alpha treatment for chemotherapy-resistant primary macroglobulinemia with stomach and lung invasion]

We reported a case of primary macroglobulinemia with stomach and pulmonary invasion. The patient was 71 years-old who had cervical lymphadenopathy and abdominal pain. Biopsy material of cervical lymph node showed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and he was diagnosed primary macroglobulinemia by IgM immunological histo-chemical staining of materials of stomach biopsies. Combination chemotherapies were not effective for the reduction of IgM-lambda protein, and organ invasion seemed to be progressive, so we tried interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) to control M component. Daily injection of 6 megaunits of IFN-alpha induced significant reduction of M component and pulmonary invasion. This favorable changes were observed for 1 year. However, his pulmonary invasion on X-ray films relapsed and he died of respiratory failure by reason of severe pneumonia. IFN-alpha is currently available for myeloproliferative disease, especially chronic myelogenous leukemia and multiple myeloma. This case report showed that IFN-alpha was also available for primary macroglobulinemia.