An autopsy study of immunoblastic lymphadenopathy (IBL)-like T-cell lymphoma in a patient previously treated with chemotherapy in colon cancer

A 77-year-old man was admitted to our hospital, due to systemic lymph node swelling. Nine months before his admission, he had been given a right hemicolonectomy for a colon cancer, that had been followed by chemotherapy (MMC and Tegafur). Laboratory testing revealed these findings: RBC 217 x 10(4)/mm3, Hb 8.3 g/dl, haptoglobin less than 10 mg/dl, positive Coombs test, cold hemagglutinin titer, 1:512, and polyclonal hyper r-globulinemia. A biopsy of a lymph node specimen exhibited the histological appearance of an IBL-like T-cell lymphoma described by Shimoyama et al. Although treatment with prednisolone was started for autoimmune hemolytic anemia, the patient died of severe anemia two months after the appearance of his lymph node symptoms.