Lymphomas with plasmablastic features: a report of the lymphoma workshop of the 20th meeting of the European Association for Haematopathology

Abstract

Lymphomas with plasmablastic features are a heterogeneous group of aggressive and mostly uncommon neoplasms of varied aetiologies, presenting in immunocompetent individuals as well as in immunodeficiency, associated with EBV and Kaposi sarcoma virus infections, and some as progression from indolent B-cell lymphomas. They show overlapping diagnostic features and pose a differential diagnosis with other aggressive B-cell lymphomas that can downregulate the B-cell expression programme. The spectrum of rare reactive proliferations and all lymphomas defined by plasmablastic features, together with an expanding range of poorly characterised, uncommon conditions at the interface between reactive lymphoid proliferations and neoplasia submitted to the session V of the 20^th European Association for Haematopathology/Society for Hematopathology lymphoma workshop are summarised and discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Classification; Diagnostic Workshop; EBV; HHV8; Plasmablastic features; Plasmablastic lymphoma.