Efalizumab-Associated Lymphoproliferative Disease

June 2007 | Volume 6 | Issue 6 | Case Reports | 646 | Copyright © June 2007


Satya Bommakanti MD, Amol Patil MD, Camellia Eshoa MD, Christopher R. Chitambar MD

Abstract
Efalizumab is an immunosuppressive agent that has been approved for the treatment of psoriasis. There has been mounting evidence that efalizumab may be associated with lymphoma/malignancy development. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of a patient who developed Epstein Barr Virus-associated large B cell lymphoma after treatment with efalizumab for psoriasis. As immunosuppressive medications such as efalizumab get increasingly prescribed, the likelihood of seeing various malignancies will increase. Thus, physicians need to have a high index of suspicion for malignancy in patients on immunosuppressive medications like efalizumab.