Bone Involvement as a Primary Rare Manifestation of Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia: A Case Report and Prevalence in a Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Bone involvement is a rare extranodal manifestation in patients with malignant lymphoproliferative diseases and has also been noted as a rare event in patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). However, the actual prevalence has not been previously reported. We describe an unusual case of a patient with WM who presented with lower back pain and focal bone lesions at initial diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multiple vertebral fractures. Posi-tron emission tomography (PET) detected only nodal changes with-out pathological skeletal-related metabolic activity. Lymph node and bone marrow biopsies combined with an immunoglobulin M (IgM) M component revealed the diagnosis of WM. A next-generation se-quencing (NGS) analysis using a targeted lymphoma panel of 59 re-currently mutated genes in lymphoid neoplasms showed mutations in the MYD88 and CD79B genes. After treatment with rituximab and bendamustine, the patient achieved a partial remission and pain relief. After 3 years of stable disease, a spontaneous subcapital fracture at the base of the femoral neck and new vertebral compression fractures occurred. Whole-body low-dose computed tomography (WB-LDCT) and bone density (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)) scan revealed marked osteopenia. After insertion of a hip prosthesis, ex-amination of the removed hip showed infiltration of clonal lympho- plasmacytic cells. Our case confirms that one must be aware that bone involvement in patients with WM can occur as a rare manifestation. Interestingly, the MYD88/CD79B-mutated (MCD) genotype in dif-fuse large B-cell lymphoma is characterized by extranodal involve-ment and may also be involved in the pathogenesis of skeletal-related disease in the present case. As a follow-up to this unusual case, we have carried out an analysis based on the Danish Lymphoma Registry (LYFO) covering the entire national population in the period 2000 -2020. The registry study included a cohort of 2,459 patients with WM and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. Our data revealed that primary bone involvement at diagnosis occurs in 1.75% of adults with WM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the prevalence of skeletal-related disease in a large nationwide cohort and defines bone involvement as an exceedingly rare event in WM.

Automated summary

This article describes a rare case of bone involvement in a patient with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) and presents an analysis based on the Danish Lymphoma Registry (LYFO) to determine the prevalence and rarity of skeletal-related disease in WM patients.