Histological improvement in salivary gland along with effector memory Th17-1 cell reduction in a primary Sjogren's syndrome patient with dermatomyositis and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by R-CHOP therapy

We treated a 45-year-old Japanese woman with primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS) complicated with dermatomyositis (DM) followed by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. She was admitted to our hospital for further evaluation of fever, weight loss and peritoneal lymphadenopathy. The histological examination of her lymph node revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The patient was then treated with 8 cycles of R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) therapy, which resulted in histological and functional improvement of her salivary glands. Of note, the percentage of effector memory Th17-1 (CD3+CD4+CD45RA-CCR7-CXCR3+CCR6+) cells in the peripheral blood was decreased after the R-CHOP treatment. This case suggests that an altered Th17-1 cell subset by B-cell depletion therapy is critical for the improvement of tissue damage in patients with SS, and the case suggests that clinicians should consider measuring the effector memory Th-subsets to predict the disease activity in SS patients.