The development of adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma in renal transplant recipients: report of two cases with literature review

Abstract

Abstract Backgrounds Therefore, reports on the risk of HTLV-1-related diseases in organ transplantation have increased in recent years, and the management of HTLV in renal transplantation remains a challenge. Patients and methods We retrospectively analyzed four HTLV-1-positive recipients or donors among 89 renal transplantation cases from 2006 to 2021. Results Among the four HTLV-1-positive recipients, two patients developed adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) derived from recipients at approximately 3 years (1016 days and 1195 days) after renal transplantation. Case 1 developed lymphoma-type ATL (an extranodal primary cutaneous variant), including skin and pulmonary lesions. The patient achieved CR with FK tapering and CHOP therapy following cord blood stem cell transplantation. However, the patient died 101 days after ATL development because of a severe fungal infection. Case 2 developed acute-type ATL with an unusual phenotype of CD4+8+30+. The patient was treated with FK tapering and palliative therapy because of poor PS. Notably, in case 1, histopathological findings showed high numbers of PD-1-positive TIL cells in ATL, suggesting exhausted T cells and a correlation with the early onset of ATL. Furthermore, in Case 2, histopathological findings revealed CD 30 expression in ATL cells, suggesting the importance of CD 30 in ATL development. Importantly, case 2 showed typical driver mutations, including CCR4 truncation mutations of the C-terminal, TBL1XR1 mutation, and TP53 mutation in the splice site. Notably, our present study and our previous study on renal transplantation strongly indicated that two out of two and one out of 59 “recipient” positive cases developed ATL, respectively. Furthermore, our previous nationwide study 4 out of 10 “donor” positive cases developed HAM. These findings showed that ATL may be derived from HTLV-I+ recipient cells and HAM may be derived from HTLV-1+ donor cells, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. Conclusions Thus, early onset and rapid progression of ATL with poor outcomes should be considered in HTLV-1 endemic areas. Furthermore, immunological or genetic mechanisms may be related to the development of ATL after renal transplantation. We believe that the mechanism of onset of ATL after transplantation may be important when considering the immune environment of ATL itself.