Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia in young African-American adults

We have identified five African-American patients with Waldenstrom's macrog lobulinemia (WM) diagnosed at a young age (ages 35, 38, 38, 40, 51; 4 males , 1 female), All had a history of intravenous heroin abuse and four also us ed cocaine, Their manner of presentation and clinical course were typical. Three of three patients tested for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) were positiv e and three of three patients tested were HIV negative. The potential relat ionship between intravenous drug abuse and/or HCV to development of WM in t his group of young patients is provocative, especially since a polyclonal i ncrease in serum IgM is commonly seen in chronic intravenous heroin addicts . More recently, the contribution of HCV is being evaluated in lymphoprolif erative disorders. Although WM is typically a disease of older people, it s hould also be considered in the differential in a young patient with a sugg estive clinical picture. Am. J. Hematol. 60:229-230, 1999. (C) 1998 Wiley-L iss, Inc.