HAEM5:Gamma heavy chain disease

Haematolymphoid Tumours (WHO Classification, 5th ed.)

editContent Update To WHO 5th Edition Classification Is In Process; Content Below is Based on WHO 4th Edition Classification

This page was converted to the new template on 2023-12-07. The original page can be found at HAEM4:Gamma Heavy Chain Disease.

(General Instructions – The focus of these pages is the clinically significant genetic alterations in each disease type. This is based on up-to-date knowledge from multiple resources such as PubMed and the WHO classification books. The CCGA is meant to be a supplemental resource to the WHO classification books; the CCGA captures in a continually updated wiki-stye manner the current genetics/genomics knowledge of each disease, which evolves more rapidly than books can be revised and published. If the same disease is described in multiple WHO classification books, the genetics-related information for that disease will be consolidated into a single main page that has this template (other pages would only contain a link to this main page). Use HUGO-approved gene names and symbols (italicized when appropriate), HGVS-based nomenclature for variants, as well as generic names of drugs and testing platforms or assays if applicable. Please complete tables whenever possible and do not delete them (add N/A if not applicable in the table and delete the examples); to add (or move) a row or column in a table, click nearby within the table and select the > symbol that appears. Please do not delete or alter the section headings. The use of bullet points alongside short blocks of text rather than only large paragraphs is encouraged. Additional instructions below in italicized blue text should not be included in the final page content. Please also see Author_Instructions and FAQs as well as contact your Associate Editor or Technical Support.)

Primary Author(s)*

Manisha Brahmbhatt-Sutariya

Asst. Professor, Dept. of Pathology and Human Anatomy

Technical Supervisor, Clinical Genetics Laboratory

Loma Linda University, Medical Center, CA

WHO Classification of Disease

Structure	Disease
Book	Haematolymphoid Tumours (5th ed.)
Category	B-cell lymphoid proliferations and lymphomas
Family	Plasma cell neoplasms and other diseases with paraproteins
Type	Heavy chain diseases
Subtype(s)	Gamma heavy chain disease

Definition / Description of Disease

• gHCD is a B-cell neoplasm of lymphocytes, plasmacytoid lymphocytes and plasma cells
• Heterogenous clinical and pathological presentation
• Disseminated lymphoproliferative disorder is present in most patients at diagnosis
• It produces truncated monoclonal gamma (g) immunoglobulin (IgG) heavy chain that is incapable of associating with light chains
• Have concomitant autoimmune disease (mostly rheumatoid arthritis)
• Three clusters of γ-HCD patients are identified:
  1. In around 60% of cases, γ-HCD is associated to disseminated lymphoma and patients typically have poor condition.
  2. In 25% of patients, γ-HCD is associated to localized lymphoma, affecting bone marrow, skin, thyroid, parotid, gastrointestinal or oropharynx tract (MALT lymphoma)
  3. In 15% of patients, γ-HCD is associated with autoimmune disease, mainly RA

Synonyms / Terminology

• Franklin disease/ γHCD

Epidemiology / Prevalence

• Incidence: Very rare, till date, ~only 200 cases have been reported in the literature
• Median age: 68 years (range, 42–87 years)
• Slight female predominance

Clinical Features

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Signs and Symptoms	EXAMPLE: Asymptomatic (incidental finding on complete blood counts) EXAMPLE: B-symptoms (weight loss, fever, night sweats) EXAMPLE: Fatigue EXAMPLE: Lymphadenopathy (uncommon)
Laboratory Findings	EXAMPLE: Cytopenias EXAMPLE: Lymphocytosis (low level)

editv4:Clinical Features

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Signs & Symptoms

• Anorexia
• Fever
• Weakness
• Weight loss
• Recurrent bacterial infections
• Concomitant autoimmune disorder
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Myasthenia Gravis
  • Autoimmune cytopenia
  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Thyroiditis
  • Vasculitis
  • Wasting
  • Sjögren syndrome
  • Thrombocytopenia
  • Autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Laboratory Findings

• Anemia
• Thrombocytopenia

Molecular Biology and Genetics

• gHCD seems to be caused by deletions and/or insertions within the rearranged variable region genes (V), which could be a by-product of somatic hypermutation

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Sites of Involvement

• Bone marrow
• Peripheral blood
• Spleen
• Liver
• Lymph nodes
• Waldeyer ring
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Extranodal sites

Morphologic Features

• Mixed proliferation of various cell types:
  • Lymphocytes
  • Plasmacytoid lymphocytes
  • Plasma cells
  • Scattered immunoblasts
  • Reed–Sternberg cells
  • Eosinophils and histiocytes
• Vascular proliferation may give rise to the histologic differential diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma or certain forms of T-cell lymphoma

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Immunophenotype

Finding	Marker
Positive (B-cell lineage marker)	CD19, CD20, CD79a, IgG (cytoplasmic) without light chain
Positive-Plasmacytoid cells	MUM1/IRF4
Positive-Plasma cells	CD38, CD138
Negative	CD5, CD10

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WHO Essential and Desirable Genetic Diagnostic Criteria

(Instructions: The table will have the diagnostic criteria from the WHO book autocompleted; remove any non-genetics related criteria. If applicable, add text about other classification systems that define this entity and specify how the genetics-related criteria differ.)

WHO Essential Criteria (Genetics)*
WHO Desirable Criteria (Genetics)*
Other Classification

*Note: These are only the genetic/genomic criteria. Additional diagnostic criteria can be found in the WHO Classification of Tumours.

Related Terminology

(Instructions: The table will have the related terminology from the WHO autocompleted.)

Acceptable
Not Recommended

Gene Rearrangements

Put your text here and fill in the table (Instructions: Details on clinical significance such as prognosis and other important information can be provided in the notes section. Please include references throughout the table. Do not delete the table.)

Driver Gene	Fusion(s) and Common Partner Genes	Molecular Pathogenesis	Typical Chromosomal Alteration(s)	Prevalence -Common >20%, Recurrent 5-20% or Rare <5% (Disease)	Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Significance - D, P, T	Established Clinical Significance Per Guidelines - Yes or No (Source)	Clinical Relevance Details/Other Notes
EXAMPLE: ABL1	EXAMPLE: BCR::ABL1	EXAMPLE: The pathogenic derivative is the der(22) resulting in fusion of 5’ BCR and 3’ABL1.	EXAMPLE: t(9;22)(q34;q11.2)	EXAMPLE: Common (CML)	EXAMPLE: D, P, T	EXAMPLE: Yes (WHO, NCCN)	EXAMPLE: The t(9;22) is diagnostic of CML in the appropriate morphology and clinical context (add reference). This fusion is responsive to targeted therapy such as Imatinib (Gleevec) (add reference). BCR::ABL1 is generally favorable in CML (add reference).
EXAMPLE: CIC	EXAMPLE: CIC::DUX4	EXAMPLE: Typically, the last exon of CIC is fused to DUX4. The fusion breakpoint in CIC is usually intra-exonic and removes an inhibitory sequence, upregulating PEA3 genes downstream of CIC including ETV1, ETV4, and ETV5.	EXAMPLE: t(4;19)(q25;q13)	EXAMPLE: Common (CIC-rearranged sarcoma)	EXAMPLE: D		EXAMPLE: DUX4 has many homologous genes; an alternate translocation in a minority of cases is t(10;19), but this is usually indistinguishable from t(4;19) by short-read sequencing (add references).
EXAMPLE: ALK	EXAMPLE: ELM4::ALK Other fusion partners include KIF5B, NPM1, STRN, TFG, TPM3, CLTC, KLC1	EXAMPLE: Fusions result in constitutive activation of the ALK tyrosine kinase. The most common ALK fusion is EML4::ALK, with breakpoints in intron 19 of ALK. At the transcript level, a variable (5’) partner gene is fused to 3’ ALK at exon 20. Rarely, ALK fusions contain exon 19 due to breakpoints in intron 18.	EXAMPLE: N/A	EXAMPLE: Rare (Lung adenocarcinoma)	EXAMPLE: T		EXAMPLE: Both balanced and unbalanced forms are observed by FISH (add references).
EXAMPLE: ABL1	EXAMPLE: N/A	EXAMPLE: Intragenic deletion of exons 2–7 in EGFR removes the ligand-binding domain, resulting in a constitutively active tyrosine kinase with downstream activation of multiple oncogenic pathways.	EXAMPLE: N/A	EXAMPLE: Recurrent (IDH-wildtype Glioblastoma)	EXAMPLE: D, P, T

editv4:Chromosomal Rearrangements (Gene Fusions)

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• No consistent gene fusions

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editv4:Clinical Significance (Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapeutic Implications).

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• Chromosomal Rearrangements (Gene Fusions)
• Individual Region Genomic Gain/Loss/LOH
• Characteristic Chromosomal Patterns
• Gene Mutations (SNV/INDEL)

• N/A

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Individual Region Genomic Gain/Loss/LOH

Put your text here and fill in the table (Instructions: Includes aberrations not involving gene rearrangements. Details on clinical significance such as prognosis and other important information can be provided in the notes section. Can refer to CGC workgroup tables as linked on the homepage if applicable. Please include references throughout the table. Do not delete the table.)

Chr #	Gain, Loss, Amp, LOH	Minimal Region Cytoband and/or Genomic Coordinates [Genome Build; Size]	Relevant Gene(s)	Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Significance - D, P, T	Established Clinical Significance Per Guidelines - Yes or No (Source)	Clinical Relevance Details/Other Notes
EXAMPLE: 7	EXAMPLE: Loss	EXAMPLE: chr7	EXAMPLE: Unknown	EXAMPLE: D, P	EXAMPLE: No	EXAMPLE: Presence of monosomy 7 (or 7q deletion) is sufficient for a diagnosis of AML with MDS-related changes when there is ≥20% blasts and no prior therapy (add reference).  Monosomy 7/7q deletion is associated with a poor prognosis in AML (add references).
EXAMPLE: 8	EXAMPLE: Gain	EXAMPLE: chr8	EXAMPLE: Unknown	EXAMPLE: D, P		EXAMPLE: Common recurrent secondary finding for t(8;21) (add references).
EXAMPLE: 17	EXAMPLE: Amp	EXAMPLE: 17q12; chr17:39,700,064-39,728,658 [hg38; 28.6 kb]	EXAMPLE: ERBB2	EXAMPLE: D, P, T		EXAMPLE: Amplification of ERBB2 is associated with HER2 overexpression in HER2 positive breast cancer (add references). Add criteria for how amplification is defined.

editv4:Genomic Gain/Loss/LOH

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• No consistent chromosomal gains or losses reported.
• A single case report of trisomy of chromosome 7

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Characteristic Chromosomal or Other Global Mutational Patterns

Put your text here and fill in the table (Instructions: Included in this category are alterations such as hyperdiploid; gain of odd number chromosomes including typically chromosome 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, and 17; co-deletion of 1p and 19q; complex karyotypes without characteristic genetic findings; chromothripsis; microsatellite instability; homologous recombination deficiency; mutational signature pattern; etc. Details on clinical significance such as prognosis and other important information can be provided in the notes section. Please include references throughout the table. Do not delete the table.)

Chromosomal Pattern	Molecular Pathogenesis	Prevalence - Common >20%, Recurrent 5-20% or Rare <5% (Disease)	Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Significance - D, P, T	Established Clinical Significance Per Guidelines - Yes or No (Source)	Clinical Relevance Details/Other Notes
EXAMPLE: Co-deletion of 1p and 18q	EXAMPLE: See chromosomal rearrangements table as this pattern is due to an unbalanced derivative translocation associated with oligodendroglioma (add reference).	EXAMPLE: Common (Oligodendroglioma)	EXAMPLE: D, P
EXAMPLE: Microsatellite instability - hypermutated		EXAMPLE: Common (Endometrial carcinoma)	EXAMPLE: P, T

editv4:Characteristic Chromosomal Aberrations / Patterns

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• No consistent pattern reported

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Gene Mutations (SNV/INDEL)

Put your text here and fill in the table (Instructions: This table is not meant to be an exhaustive list; please include only genes/alterations that are recurrent or common as well either disease defining and/or clinically significant. If a gene has multiple mechanisms depending on the type or site of the alteration, add multiple entries in the table. For clinical significance, denote associations with FDA-approved therapy (not an extensive list of applicable drugs) and NCCN or other national guidelines if applicable; Can also refer to CGC workgroup tables as linked on the homepage if applicable as well as any high impact papers or reviews of gene mutations in this entity. Details on clinical significance such as prognosis and other important information such as concomitant and mutually exclusive mutations can be provided in the notes section. Please include references throughout the table. Do not delete the table.)

Gene	Genetic Alteration	Tumor Suppressor Gene, Oncogene, Other	Prevalence - Common >20%, Recurrent 5-20% or Rare <5% (Disease)	Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Significance - D, P, T	Established Clinical Significance Per Guidelines - Yes or No (Source)	Clinical Relevance Details/Other Notes
EXAMPLE:EGFR	EXAMPLE: Exon 18-21 activating mutations	EXAMPLE: Oncogene	EXAMPLE: Common (lung cancer)	EXAMPLE: T	EXAMPLE: Yes (NCCN)	EXAMPLE: Exons 18, 19, and 21 mutations are targetable for therapy. Exon 20 T790M variants cause resistance to first generation TKI therapy and are targetable by second and third generation TKIs (add references).
EXAMPLE: TP53; Variable LOF mutations	EXAMPLE: Variable LOF mutations	EXAMPLE: Tumor Supressor Gene	EXAMPLE: Common (breast cancer)	EXAMPLE: P		EXAMPLE: >90% are somatic; rare germline alterations associated with Li-Fraumeni syndrome (add reference). Denotes a poor prognosis in breast cancer.
EXAMPLE: BRAF; Activating mutations	EXAMPLE: Activating mutations	EXAMPLE: Oncogene	EXAMPLE: Common (melanoma)	EXAMPLE: T

Note: A more extensive list of mutations can be found in cBioportal, COSMIC, and/or other databases. When applicable, gene-specific pages within the CCGA site directly link to pertinent external content.

Epigenomic Alterations

• No recurrent epigenomic alterations have been reported.

Genes and Main Pathways Involved

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Gene; Genetic Alteration	Pathway	Pathophysiologic Outcome
EXAMPLE: BRAF and MAP2K1; Activating mutations	EXAMPLE: MAPK signaling	EXAMPLE: Increased cell growth and proliferation
EXAMPLE: CDKN2A; Inactivating mutations	EXAMPLE: Cell cycle regulation	EXAMPLE: Unregulated cell division
EXAMPLE: KMT2C and ARID1A; Inactivating mutations	EXAMPLE: Histone modification, chromatin remodeling	EXAMPLE: Abnormal gene expression program

editv4:Genes and Main Pathways Involved

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• N/A

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Genetic Diagnostic Testing Methods

• Immunofixation (IF) is must and gold standard
• Serum Protein Electrophoresis (SPEP)
• Urine Electrophoresis
• Morphology and immunophenotyping

• MALDI-TOF MS could greatly improve the recognition of HCD because it directly detects the light chains and heavy chains and provides structural information about the proteins.

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Familial Forms

• None reported

Additional Information

Some cases of gamma-HCD (γ-HCD) are concurrent with other lymphoid neoplasm have been reported in the literature and are listed below; treatment option varies with concurrent neoplasm

• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL)
• DLBCL-diffuse large B cell Lymphoma
• LCPD-lymphoplasma cell proliferative disorder
• Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma (LPL)
• MALT -mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue
• MDS-myelodysplastic syndrome
• MGUS-monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined Significance
• SDRPSBCL-splenic diffuse red pulp small B-cell lymphoma
• SMZL-splenic marginal zone lymphoma
• T-LGLL-T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia

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Links

• None

References

(use the "Cite" icon at the top of the page) (Instructions: Add each reference into the text above by clicking where you want to insert the reference, selecting the “Cite” icon at the top of the wiki page, and using the “Automatic” tab option to search by PMID to select the reference to insert. If a PMID is not available, such as for a book, please use the “Cite” icon, select “Manual” and then “Basic Form”, and include the entire reference. To insert the same reference again later in the page, select the “Cite” icon and “Re-use” to find the reference; DO NOT insert the same reference twice using the “Automatic” tab as it will be treated as two separate references. The reference list in this section will be automatically generated and sorted.)

Notes

*Primary authors will typically be those that initially create and complete the content of a page.  If a subsequent user modifies the content and feels the effort put forth is of high enough significance to warrant listing in the authorship section, please contact the Associate Editor or other CCGA representative.  When pages have a major update, the new author will be acknowledged at the beginning of the page, and those who contributed previously will be acknowledged below as a prior author.

Prior Author(s):

*Citation of this Page: “Gamma heavy chain disease”. Compendium of Cancer Genome Aberrations (CCGA), Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC), updated 02/10/2025, https://ccga.io/index.php/HAEM5:Gamma_heavy_chain_disease.

Other Sections

Gene Mutations (SN V/INDEL)

• g-HCD lacks MYD88 L265p mutation associated with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, hence gHCD should no longer be considered a variant of LPL
• Deletions and insertions account for approximately 6% of somatic point mutations introduced into rearranged VH region genes of germinal B cells.
• No sequencing data is available till date.