Clinical and laboratory characterization of a large cohort of patients with Castleman disease retrospectively collected from a single center.

The clinical, pathological treatment, and prognostic data of 55 patients with Castleman disease (CD) were collected retrospectively from a single medical center. Thirty-four cases were classified as uni-centric; the remaining 21 cases were diagnosed as multi-centric CD. Regarding pathological classification, 38 cases were hyaline vascular type, account for 69.1% of all patients. Nine cases were diagnosed as plasmacytic type and eight cases as mixed cellularity type. Several prominent clinical complications were noted in this group of patients with CD: the skin, internal organs, and hematopoietic system were involved individually or concurrently. Clinical complications were distinct between different clinical and pathological subtypes of CD. The unique clinical and laboratory features of patients with paraneoplastic pemphigus suggests this diagnosis should be characterized as an independent disease entity. The presence of clinical complications is an independent prognostic factor in all patients with CD. More effective initial therapy should be considered in patients with CD with complications to improve the overall survival.