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A resolution recognizing July 23, 2019 as World Castleman Disease Day and recognizing the continued efforts of Dr. David Fajgenbaum and the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) in searching for a cure for Castleman's Disease.
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WHEREAS, Castleman Disease is a rare disease of the lymph nodes and other related tissues, which causes abnormal overgrowth of cells in the lymph system. Roughly 6,500 to 7,700 new cases are diagnosed annually; and
WHEREAS, Castleman Disease is a grouping of 3 heterogeneous autoimmune diseases and is primarily classified by the number of enlarged lymph nodes a patient exhibits. Patients that exhibit only one or one region of enlarged lymph nodes have Unicentric Castleman Disease, while having multiple regions or nodes enlarged would diagnose a patient with Multicentric Castleman Disease; and
WHEREAS, Multicentric Castleman Disease can be broken down into two subgroups, individuals infected with Human Herpes Virus-8 (HHV-8). These patients are typically infected with HIV, but that is not a guarantee. Patients who are not infected with HHV-8 or HIV are diagnosed with idiopathic Multicentric Castleman Disease; and
WHEREAS, While Castleman's Disease is not officially considered cancer, it can lead to patients developing lymphoma and is just as deadly as cancer. Multicentric Castleman disease has a nearly identical 5-year mortality rate as colon cancer (35%) and a worse mortality rate than prostate cancer, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma; and
WHEREAS, More often than not, Castleman Disease is misdiagnosed, as its rarity often leads physicians to diagnose a patient with some form of cancer before recognizing the mistake. As noted, only 6,500 to 7,700 new cases are diagnosed annually, as compared to lung cancer (224,390) or diabetes (22,000,000) in 2016; and
WHEREAS, In order to increase awareness of the disease and to accelerate research for a cure, Dr. David Fajgenbaum and Dr. Frits van Rhee ...
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