What is Castleman disease?

What is Castleman disease?

Castleman disease, or Castleman syndrome, refers to a group of rare disorders involving an overgrowth of cells in the body’s lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system is made up of lymph nodes (also called lymph glands) and other lymphatic tissue. This system is part of the immune system and filters harmful substances such as bacteria and viruses so they don’t spread to other parts of the body.

Castleman disease can affect one or more lymph nodes in a single region of the body or it can involve multiple lymph node regions. Doctors classify the disease into different categories based on the number of lymph node regions affected.

Castleman disease and its symptoms are similar to lymphomas, cancers that affect the lymph nodes.