Treatment with bortezomib of a patient having hyper IgG4 disease

Abstract

Hyper IgG4 disease is a recently described inflammatory disease characterized by lymphoplasmacytic infiltration leading to fibrosis and tissue destruction. Whereas most cases have been successfully treated with corticosteroids, recurrent or refractory cases may benefit from alternative therapies. Bortezomib has proven to be successful in the treatment of multiple myeloma, and its mechanism indicates that it may have merit in autoimmune or other plasmacytic disorders. We report a patient with recurrent pulmonary infiltration with IgG4 plasma cells, consistent with hyper IgG4 disease, who was successfully treated using a bortezomib-based combination with minimal therapy-related toxicities.