Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2013 August, 230(4)

The Adverse Prognostic Hallmarks in Identical Twins with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: A Clinical Report and Literature Review

DAMIN CHAI,^1,2 YISHENG TAO,¹ ZHENGQI BAO,³ LI YANG,⁴ ZHENZHONG FENG,¹ LI MA,¹ LIMEI LIANG⁵ and XINWEN ZHOU²

¹Department of Pathology, 1st Affiliated Hospital, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, P.R. China
²Department of Pathophysiology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China
³Department of Orthopedics, 1st Affiliated Hospital, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, P.R. China
⁴Department of Radiology, 1st Affiliated Hospital, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, P.R. China
⁵Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1st Affiliated Hospital, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, P.R. China

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of Langerhans cells accompanying eosinophils. It often attacks children under 10 years of age. LCH in identical twins is very rare and its prognosis is different. Here we report identical-twin sisters with LCH. Computed tomography (CT) revealed osteolytic change in each twin's skull, and the elder exhibited poor eyesight. There were massive histiocyte-like cells surrounded by eosinophils in pathologic specimen of the abnormal lesions, which is typical pathologic finding in LCH. These pathologic cells were positive for S-100 and the cell surface protein CD1 antigen (CD1α), the known markers of LCH. After treating them with surgery, no symptoms were seen in the younger until now. While the older was found another soft mass (about 2.0 cm in diameter) in the left temporal area 18 months later. The same treatment was given to the older after admission, and she is healthy to date. To explore the relationship between hallmarks and the prognosis of identical-twin patients with LCH, we retrieved the 16 literatures (16 identical-twin pairs, 31 patients) listed in PubMed during the past 60 years. The data revealed all those patients who have disseminated to the bone marrow, spleen and liver with symptoms of fever and hepatosplenomegaly exhibited worse prognosis (9 out of the 31 patients). The other identical-twin subjects without infiltration of those organs recovered well. In conclusion, this study reveals the adverse hallmarks of prognosis in identical-twin patients with LCH by reviewing relevant literatures.

keywords —— hallmarks; identical twins; Langerhans cell histiocytosis; prognosis; risk organs

© 2013 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2013, 230, 219-225

Correspondence: Xinwen Zhou, Department of Pathophysiology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, P.R.China.

e-mail: zhouxinwen@mail.hust.edu.cn