Antibiotic prophylaxis in acute childhood leukemia: What is known so far?

ABSTRACT Introduction: The treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has evolved in recent decades, reaching an overall survival rate close to 90%. Currently, approximately 4% of patients with ALL die from secondary complications of chemotherapy. Among these complications, the most frequent is febrile neutropenia (FN). The treatment of acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) is even more aggressive, being consequently related to a considerable amount of treatment-related toxicity with a high risk of severe infection and death. Method: In order to reduce the infection-related risks in these groups of patients, systemic antibacterial prophylaxis has emerged as a possible approach. Results: Antibiotic prophylaxis during neutropenia periods in those undergoing chemotherapy have .already been proven in adults with acute leukemias (ALs). Among the possible available therapeutic options for bacterial prophylaxis in children with cancer, fluoroquinolones emerged with the most amount of evidence. Within this class, levofloxacin became the best choice. Conclusion: Therefore, the use of levofloxacin seems to be indicated in very specific situations: in children who are known to be neutropenic for a long time, secondary to intensive chemotherapy; in children with AL undergoing chemotherapy to induce remission; or in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This article aims to describe recent evidence focusing on antibiotic prophylaxis in children with ALs.

Microorganismos aislados de hemocultivos en niños con leucemia y linforma: Seis años de seguimiento / Microorganisms isolated from blood cultures in children with leukemia and lymphoma: six years of follow-up

Las Leucemias y linfomas constituyen las enfermedades oncológicas más frecuentes en pediatría y las bacteriemias representan infecciones graves en estos pacientes. Objetivos: describir los microorganismos aislados de sangre en pacientes con leucemia aguda o linfoma pediátrico; comparar la incidencia de aislamientos según enfermedad de base; detallar las variaciones en la incidencia de dichos aislamientos y la evolución de su resistencia antimicrobiana. Estudio retrospectivo, observacional. Se incluyeron 823 episodios de bacteriemia en 467 pacientes pediátricos, entre julio-2016 y junio-2022, dividido en tres períodos (período-1: años 2016- 2018, período-2: años 2018-2020, período-3: años 2020-2022). Se aislaron 880 microorganismos: 55,3% gram negativos (GN), 40% gram positivos (GP) y 4,7% levaduras. En GN predominaron: enterobacterias (72%) y en GP: estreptococos del grupo viridans (SGV) (34,1%). Se encontró asociación entre LLA-enterobacterias (p=0,009) y LMA-SGV (p<0,001). Hubo aumento de GN entre los períodos 1 y 3 (p=0,02) y 2 y 3 (p=0,002) y disminución de GP entre 2 y 3 (p=0,01). Se registraron los siguientes mecanismos de resistencia: BLEE (16,4%), carbapenemasas: KPC (2,5%); MBL (2,7%) y OXA (0,2%); meticilinorresistencia en Staphylococcus aureus (20%) y estafilococos coagulasa negativos (95%), vancomicina resistencia en Enterococcus spp. (39%), SGV no sensibles a penicilina (44%) y a cefotaxima (13%). Hubo aumento de MBL entre los períodos 1 y 2 (p=0,02) y una tendencia en disminución de sensibilidad a penicilina en SGV entre el 1 y 3 (p=0,058). El conocimiento dinámico y análisis de estos datos es esencial para generar estadísticas a nivel local, fundamentales para el diseño de guías de tratamientos empíricos (AU)

Leukemias and lymphomas are the most common cancers in children and bacteremia is a severe infection in these patients. Objectives: to describe the microorganisms isolated from blood in pediatric patients with acute leukemia or lymphoma; to compare the incidence of isolates according to the underlying disease; and to detail the variations in the incidence of these isolates and the evolution of their antimicrobial resistance. Retrospective, observational study. We included 823 episodes of bacteremia in 467 pediatric patients seen between July-2016 and June-2022, divided into three periods (period-1: 2016- 2018, period-2: 2018-2020, period-3: 2020-2022). A total of 880 microorganisms were isolated: 55.3% were gram-negative (GN), 40% gram-positive (GP) and 4.7% yeasts. In GN there was a predominance of: enterobacteria (72%) and in GP viridans group streptococci (VGS) (34.1%). An association was found between ALL-enterobacteria (p=0.009) and AML-VGS (p<0.001). There was an increase in GN between periods 1 and 3 (p=0.02) and 2 and 3 (p=0.002) and a decrease in GP between 2 and 3 (p=0.01). The following resistance mechanisms were recorded: BLEE (16.4%), carbapenemases: KPC (2.5%), MBL (2.7%), and OXA (0.2%); methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus (20%) and coagulase negative staphylococci (95%), vancomycin resistance in Enterococcus spp. (39%), VGS resistant to penicillin (44%) and to cefotaxime (13%). There was an increase in MBL between periods 1 and 2 (p=0.02) and a decreasing trend in penicillin sensitivity in VGS between periods 1 and 3 (p=0.058). Dynamic knowledge and analysis of these data is essential to generate statistics at the local level, which is fundamental for the design of empirical treatment guidelines (AU)

Applicability of the acute leukemia (AL) - EBMT score as a prognostic model for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a single-center, prospective, cohort study at a reference transplant center in Brazil

Abstract Introduction The Acute Leukemia-European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (AL-EBMT) risk score was recently developed and validated by Shouval et al. Objective To assess the ability of this score in predicting the 2-year overall survival (OS-2), leukemia-free survival (LFS-2) and transplant-related mortality (TRM) in acute leukemia (AL) adult patients undergoing a first allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) at a transplant center in Brazil. Methods In this prospective, cohort study, we used the formula published by Shouval et al. to calculate the AL-EBMT score and stratify patients into three risk categories. Results A total of 79 patients transplanted between 2008 and 2018 were analyzed. The median age was 38 years. Acute myeloid leukemia was the most common diagnosis (68%). Almost a quarter of the cases were at an advanced stage. All hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCTs) were human leukocyte antigen-matched (HLA-matched) and the majority used familial donors (77%). Myeloablative conditioning was used in 92% of the cases. Stratification according to the AL-EBMT score into low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups yielded the following results: 40%, 12% and 47% of the cases, respectively. The high scoring group was associated with a hazard ratio of 2.1 (p= 0.007), 2.1 (p= 0.009) and 2.47 (p= 0.01) for the 2-year OS, LFS and TRM, respectively. Conclusion This study supports the ability of the AL-EBMT score to reasonably predict the 2-year post-transplant OS, LFS and TRM and to discriminate between risk categories in adult patients with AL, thus confirming its usefulness in clinical decision-making in this setting. Larger, multicenter studies may further help confirm these findings.

EVALUATION OF PANCYTOPENIA WITH BONE MARROW INTERPRETATION

Background: Pancytopenia is one of the most common clinico-haematological entity observed in our day to day clinical practice. It is a disorder in which all the three major elements of blood (i.e. red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets) are decreased in number. The causes of pancytopenia may be due to decrease in hematopoietic cell production in the marrow resulting from infections, toxins, malignant cell in?ltration, post- chemotherapy or post-radiation. Aims and Objectives: 1) To study the etiology and clinical presentation of pancytopenia in all age groups. 2) To correlate with bone marrow interpretation Materials & Methods: This is a prospective study which was conducted among 50 patients of pancytopenia in the Clinical Pathology, Government General Hospital,Kurnool from January 2021 to October 2022 Bone marrow aspiration was done by using Salah's bone marrow puncture needle. Smears were made from bone marrow aspirate (BMA) and stained by Leishman stain and special stains like Perl`s wherever necessary. The smears were assessed for cellularity, differentiation and maturation of erythroid, myeloid and megakaryocytic lineage, M:E ratio, Plasma cells, Lymphocytes and parasites/ abnormal cells. In the present study the commonest cause of Pancytopenia was Megaloblastic anemia (70%) followed by Results: Dimorphic anemia (20%). The less common conditions were Multiple Myeloma (6%),Chronic Myeloid Leukemia(2%),Acute Leukemia(2%). The present study concludes that complete primary hematological Interpretation and Conclusion: investigations along with bone marrow aspiration in pancytopenic patients are helpful for understanding disease process and to diagnose or to the rule out causes of pancytopenia. These are also helpful in planning for further investigations and management

Immunophenotypic and Clinical Characteristics of SET-CAN Fusion Gene Positive Acute Leukemia Patients / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the flow immunophenotype and clinical characteristics of leukemia patients with positive SET-CAN fusion gene.@*METHODS@#A total of 7 newly diagnosed acute leukemia patients with SET-CAN fusion gene admitted to Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from February 2016 to February 2020 were collected. Multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of SET-CAN fusion gene. The immunophenotype was detected by four-color flow cytometry. The case information of 17 literatures published at home and abroad was extracted for statistical analysis.@*RESULTS@#Among the 7 patients, 2 cases were diagnosed as mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL), 2 cases as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and 3 cases as T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)/lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL). Leukemia cells in bone marrow specimens of all cases expressed or partially expressed CD34, CD33 and CD7. CD5 and cytoplasmic CD3 were expressed in 5 patients except 2 patients diagnosed with AML. Bone marrow and lymph node specimens were both detected in 2 patients, and the immunophenotypes of the two specimens were not completely consistent, with differences in lineage or maturity related markers. Two patients with MPAL showed differentiated response to treatment. One AML patient gave up treatment, and another AML patient with FLT3-ITD gene mutation had a poor prognosis. All three T-ALL/LBL patients maintained a long duration of remission after induced remission, and one case underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.@*CONCLUSIONS@#There are common characteristics of immunophenotype in patients with positive SET-CAN fusion gene. Differential expression of immunophenotype in samples from different parts is observed in some cases. The prognosis of these diseases varies.

Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors in Children with Acute Leukemia Complicated with Multiple Drug Resistant Bacterial Septicemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of acute leukemia complicated with multi-drug resistant bacterial septicemia in children.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of children with acute leukemia complicated with septicemia admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University from January 2013 to May 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Their flora composition and drug resistance were also analyzed. The children were divided into multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDRB) group and non-multi-drug resistant bacteria (non-MDRB) group according to the drug sensitivity results, and the differences in clinical data between the two group were compared.@*RESULTS@#A total of 108 children had drug sensitivity results, 47 cases in the MDRB group, including 26 strians of Gram-positive bacteria (G+), the most common multi-drug resistant G+ bacteria were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Staphylococcus aureus, and the most common multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria G- bacteria were Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae subspecies pneumoniae. Compared with non-MDRB group, children in MDRB group had higher C-reactive protein (CRP) level and mortality rate (P <0.001, P =0.009), lower initial empirical anti-infection efficiency (P <0.001), and were more likely to have septic shock (P =0.003). Logistic analysis showed that the risk factors of acute leukemia complicated with MDRB septicemia in children were previous MDRB infection (OR =6.763, 95% CI: 1.141-40.092, P =0.035), duration of agranulocytosis before infection≥7 days (OR =3.071, 95% CI: 1.139-8.282, P =0.027), and previous use of antimicrobial drugs within 90 days before infection (OR =7.675, 95% CI: 1.581-37.261, P =0.011).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The clinical features of acute leukemia complicated with MDRB septicemia in children include a heavy inflammatory response, significantly elevated CRP, susceptibility to secondary septic shock, low efficiency of initial empirical anti-infective therapy, and high mortality rate. Previous MDRB infection, duration of agranulocytosis before infection≥7 days, and previous use of antimicrobial drugs within 90 days before infection are risk factors of acute leukemia complicated with MDRB septicemia in children.

Effects of Methionine Restriction on Proliferation, Cell Cycle, and Apoptosis of Human Acute Leukemia Cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of methionine restriction on proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis of human acute leukemia cells.@*METHODS@#Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to detect the effect of methionine restriction on HL-60 and Jurkat cells proliferation. The effect of methionine restriction on cell cycle of HL-60 and Jurkat cells was examined by PI staining. Annexin V-FITC / PI double staining was applied to detect apoptosis of HL-60 and Jurkat cells following methionine restriction. The expression of cell cycle-related proteins cyclin B1, CDC2 and apoptosis-related protein Bcl-2 was evaluated by Western blot assay.@*RESULTS@#Methionine restriction significantly inhibited the proliferation of HL-60 and Jurkat cells in a time-dependent manner (HL-60: r =0.7773, Jurkat: r =0.8725), arrested the cells at G2/M phase (P < 0.001), and significantly induced apoptosis of HL-60 and Jurkat cells (HL-60: P < 0.001; Jurkat: P < 0.05). Furthermore, Western blot analysis demonstrated that methionine restriction significantly reduced the proteins expression of Cyclin B1 (P < 0.05), CDC2 (P < 0.01) and Bcl-2 (P < 0.001) in HL-60 and Jurkat cells.@*CONCLUSION@#Acute leukemia cells HL-60 and Jurkat exhibit methionine dependence. Methionine restriction can significantly inhibit the proliferation, promote cell cycle arrest and induce apoptosis of HL-60 and Jurkat cells, which suggests that methionine restriction may be a potential therapeutic strategy for acute leukemia.

Efficacy of CLAE Chemotherapy Regimen Followed by Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Acute Leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the efficacy and safety of CLAE intensive chemotherapy followed by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with relapsed/refractory acute leukemia (R/R AL).@*METHODS@#CLAE regimen [cladribine 5 mg/(m2·d), d 1-5; cytarabine 1.5 g/(m2·d), d 1-5; etoposide 100 mg/(m2·d), d 3-5] followed by allo-HSCT was used to treat 3 R/R AL patients. The patients received CLAE chemotherapy in relapsed or refractory status and underwent bone marrow puncture to judge myelodysplastic state. After an interval of 3 to 5 days, followed by preconditioning regimen for allo-HSCT [fludarabine 30 mg/(m2·d), d -7 to d -3; busulfan 0.8 mg/kg q6h, d -6 to d -3 or d -5 to d -2. If the bone marrow hyperplasia was not active and the blasts were less than 10%, busulfan should be used for 3 days. If the bone marrow hyperplasia was active and the blasts were more than 10%, busulfan should be used for 4 days]. Cyclosporin A, mycophenolate mofetil and short-term methotrexate were used for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention. After transplantation, the status of minimal residual disease (MRD) and bone marrow chimerism were regularly monitored in all 3 patients, and demethylation drugs or dasatinib were used to prevent recurrence 3 months after transplantation.@*RESULTS@#2 patients with t(11;19) translocation and relapse/refractory acute myeloid leukemia recurred within 6 months after induction of remission, and received intensive chemotherapy with CLAE regimen followed by haploidentical allo-HSCT and unrelated donor allo-HSCT, respectively. The two patients both relapsed 6 months after transplantation, then achieved complete remission by donor lymphocyte infusion, interferon, interleukin-2 and other methods, and disease-free survival was 2 years after transplantation. The other patient was chronic myelogenous leukemia who developed acute lymphoblastic leukemia during oral administration of tyrosine kinase inhibitor, accompanied by T315I and E255K mutations in ABL1 kinase region and additional chromosomal abnormalities. After morphological remission by induction chemotherapy, central nervous system leukemia was complicated. Intensive chemotherapy with CLAE regimen followed by sibling allo-HSCT was performed in the positive state of MRD. The patient relapsed 3 months after transplantation, and achieved remission after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, however, he died 5 months after transplantation because of severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and GVHD.@*CONCLUSION@#CLAE regimen followed by allo-HSCT may be an effective salvage treatment option for R/R AL patients to prolong the overall survival.

Research Progress of Next Generation Sequencing in Acute Leukemia --Review / 中国实验血液学杂志

With the advent of precision medicine, next-generation sequencing (NGS) is playing an increasingly important role in clinical oncology diagnosis and treatment with its advantages of high sensitivity, high accuracy, high efficiency and operability. NGS reveals the genetic characteristics of acute leukemia(AL) patients by screening for specific disease-causing genes to identify occult as well as complex genetic mutations in patients with AL, leading to early diagnosis and targeted drug therapy for AL patients, as well as to predict disease recurrence by detecting mnimal residual disease (MRD) and analyzing mutated genes to determine patient prognosis. NGS plays an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis assessment in AL, providing a direction for the pursuit of precision medicine. This paper reviews the research progress of NGS in AL.

Clinical Analysis of SET-NUP214 Fusion Gene Positive Patients with Acute Leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the characteristics and prognosis of acute leukemia(AL) with SET-NUP214 fusion gene.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 17 patients over 14 years old newly diagnosed with SET-NUP214 positive AL admitted in Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital from August 2017 to May 2021 were analyzed retrospectively.@*RESULTS@#Among the 17 SET-NUP214 positive patients, 13 cases were diagnosed as T-ALL (ETP 3 cases, Pro-T-ALL 6 cases, Pre-T-ALL 3 cases, Medullary-T-ALL 1 case), AML 3 cases (2 cases M5, 1 case M0) and ALAL 1 case. Thirteen patients presented extramedullary infiltration at initial diagnosis. All 17 patients received treatment, and a total of 16 cases achieved complete remission (CR), including 12 cases in patients with T-ALL. The total median OS and RFS time were 23 (3-50) months and 21 (0-48) months, respectively. Eleven patients received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT), with median OS time of 37.5 (5-50) months and median RFS time of 29.5 (5-48) months. The median OS time of 6 patients in chemotherapy-only group was 10.5 (3-41) months, and median RFS time of 6.5 (3-39) months. The OS and RFS of patients with transplantation group were better than those of chemotherapy-only group (P=0.038). Among the 4 patients who relapsed or refractory after allo-HSCT, the SET-NUP214 fusion gene did not turn negative before transplantation. While, in the group of 7 patients who have not relapsed after allo-HSCT till now, the SET-NUP214 fusion gene expression of 5 patients turned negative before transplantation and other 2 of them were still positive.@*CONCLUSION@#The fusion site of SET-NUP214 fusion gene is relatively fixed in AL patients, often accompanied by extramedullary infiltration. The chemotherapy effect of this disease is poor, and allo-HSCT may improve its prognosis.

Endocrine complications associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and its evaluation in children / 国际儿科学杂志

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, applied in the treatment of blood tumors and non-tumor diseases in children, has improved the survival rate and life span of the patients.However, with the extension of survival time, various endocrine complications will appear in these survivors of childhood cancer and reduce the quality of life.Complications related to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children are caused by primary disease and/ or treatments before and after transplantation, including abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism, hypogonadism, short stature and so on.Regular endocrine evaluations can help physicians find the endocrine dysfunctions of children with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as soon as possible.This review summarizes the common endocrine complications and follow-up evaluation of children with thalassemia and acute leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, in order to provide reference for the monitoring of endocrine function in children after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Distribution of pathogenic bacteria of bloodstream infection after chemotherapy in patients with acute leukemia and risk factors analysis of the occurrence of adverse events and prediction model construction / 白血病·淋巴瘤

Objective:To investigate the distribution of pathogenic bacteria of bloodstream infection after chemotherapy in patients with acute leukemia (AL), to analyze the risk factors for the occurrence of adverse events and to construct a nomogram model to predict the occurrence of adverse events.Methods:The clinical data of 313 AL patients with bloodstream infection who were admitted to the First Hospital of Jilin University from January 2018 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, and the incidence, fatality and distribution characteristics of pathogenic bacteria after chemotherapy in AL patients were analyzed; the occurrence of adverse events (death or infectious shock) in patients with different clinicopathological characteristics were compared. Unconditional logistic binary regression model multifactor analysis was used to screen independent risk factors for the occurrence of adverse events in AL patients with bloodstream infection after chemotherapy; the nomogram model for predicting the occurrence of adverse events was developed by using R software; the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to verify the predictive effect of the model.Results:Of the 313 AL patients, the overall fatality rate was 4.2% (13/313), the all-cause fatality rate of bloodstream infection was 3.5% (11/313). Of the 313 cases, 254 cases (81.1%) were Gram-negative bacteria infection, mainly including 115 cases (45.3%) of Escherichia coli, 80 cases (31.5%) of Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 29 cases (11.4%) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 10 cases (3.9%) died; 51 cases (16.3%) were Gram-positive cocci infection, mainly including 22 cases (43.1%) of Streptococcus spp., 20 cases (39.2%) of Staphylococcus spp., 7 cases (13.7%) of Enterococcus faecalis, and 0 case died; 8 cases (2.6%) were fungal infection, including 4 cases (1.3%) of Candida tropicalis, 2 cases (0.6%) of Candida subsmoothis, 1 case (0.3%) of Candida smooth, 1 case (0.3%) of new Cryptococcus, and 3 cases (37.5%) died. The differences in the occurrence rates of adverse events were statistically significant when comparing different treatment stage, risk stratification, timing of sensitive antibiotic use, total duration of fever, and glucocorticoid use in chemotherapy regimen, infecting bacteria carbapenem resistance, and leukemia remission (all P < 0.05). The results of logistic binary regression analysis showed that the use of glucocorticoid in chemotherapy regimen, the total duration of fever ≥7 d, the timing of sensitive antibiotic use ≥24 h, and carbapenem resistance of the infecting bacteria were independent risk factors for the occurrence of adverse events in AL patients with bloodstream infection after chemotherapy (all P < 0.05). A nomogram prediction model for the occurrence of adverse events in AL patients with bloodstream infection was established, and the nomogram model was calibrated and validated with good calibration and discrimination. Conclusions:The pathogenic bacteria of bloodstream infection after chemotherapy in AL patients is mainly Gram-negative bacteria, and the presence of glucocorticoid in chemotherapy regimen, long total duration of fever, poor timing of sensitive antibiotics, and infecting bacteria carbapenem resistance are risk factors for the occurrence of adverse events in AL patients with bloodstream infection after chemotherapy, and the nomogram prediction model based on these factors has a reliable predictive ability for the occurrence of adverse events.

Morphological characteristics of bone marrow and peripheral blood in 1 151 cases diagnosed with de novo acute leukemia / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To observe and analyze the morphological characteristic of bone marrow and peripheral blood in patients diagnosed with de novo acute leukemia.Methods:From October 1, 2015 to December 31, 2021, 1151 patients aged 47 (26, 62) years, consisting of 602 males and 549 females with newly diagnosed acute leukemia in the Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, were collected to preform the morphological analysis in bone marrow and peripheral blood smears. Based on the comprehensive diagnosis results of morphology, immunology, cytogenetics, and molecular biology, comparison between acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), AML with RUNX1-RUNXITI gene, AML with CBFβ/MYH11 gene, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) with PML/RARA gene, AML with NPM1 gene, the rest of the AML, Ph+ALL and Ph-ALL were performed by Chi-square test along with analysis of the differences in the ratio of wood bundle cells, pseudo-Chediak-Higashi (PCH) inclusions, cytoplasmic small particles, nuclear notches, leukemia cells with cup-like changes (cup cells); as well as the differences in the micromeganuclei, early immature granulocytes, plasma cells, high eosinophils and other accompanying cells and the distribution of "grape-like" aggregation. Finally, the morphological characteristics of acute leukemia cells, the appearance and arrangement of accompanying cells were summarized.Results:Between AML and ALL, there were statistically significant differences in cytoplasmic Auer bodies[(45.5%, 0%), χ 2=211.400, P<0.01], PCH inclusion bodies[(28.9%, 0%), χ 2=114.100, P<0.01], cytoplasmic fine particles[(20.7%, 2.9%), χ 2=53.798, P<0.01], nuclear notches[(0.7%, 6.1%), χ 2=30.906, P<0.01], and goblet cells[(4.9%, 0.3%), χ 2=13.495, P<0.01], micromegakaryus [(22.4%, 0.3%), χ 2=80.398, P<0.01], plasma cells[(87.6%, 10.6%), χ 2=604.241, P<0.01], hyperacidophils[(15.3%, 1.0%), χ 2=46.116, P<0.01] showed significant differences in the "grape-like" aggregation distribution. In AML with RUNX1-RUNXITI gene, the changes of vacuoles and PCH inclusion bodies are more obvious; in AML with CBFβ/MYH11 gene, the increase of hypereosinophils is more obvious; in APL with PML/RARA gene, the increase of woodbundle is more obvious. The morphology of nuclei chromatin, nucleolus, and vacuoles were also different among the groups. Comparison between Ph+ALL and Ph-ALL showed that Ph+ALL was more prone to develop early immature granulocytes and plasma cells (all P<0.05). Conclusion:There are significant differences between AML and ALL in the characteristics of leukemia cells, the regularity of accompanying cells, and the aggregation and distribution patterns. The subtypes of AML with specific genetic abnormalities have their own characteristics in the appearance of vacuoles, PCH inclusions, hypereosinophils, woodbundle cells, and goblet cells. Ph+ALL is more prone to present early immature granulocytes and plasma cells.

Successful treatment of acute leukemia by secondary transplantation after the first haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation failure / 器官移植

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of secondary transplantation for patients with acute leukemia after failure of the first haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Methods Two acute leukemia patients underwent the first haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from two donors with thalassemia, and the number of collected CD34+ cells was 2.57×106/kg and 1.99×106/kg per donor, respectively. The first haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation failed. Secondary transplantation was performed from two non-thalassemia donors, and the number of collected CD34+ cells was 4.28×106/kg and 5.75×106/kg per donor, respectively. A reduced-intensity conditioning regimen consisting of fludarabine (Flu), busulfan (Bu) and antithymocyte globulin (ATG) was adopted for the secondary transplantation. Results For two recipients, the time of secondary transplantation of neutrophil and platelet was +12 d and +10 d, +10 d and +10 d, respectively. Up to the final follow-up (+1 062 d and +265 d after secondary transplantation), the primary diseases of both two recipients have been completely relieved without evident post-transplantation complications. Conclusions Secondary transplantation with reduced-intensity conditioning regimen may successfully treat acute leukemia after failure of the first haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Factores relacionados con la mortalidad en niños diagnosticados de leucemia linfoide aguda con insuficiencias orgánicas / High risk factors in pediatric patients diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukemia with organ failur

Introducción: Los pacientes pediátricos con leucemia linfoide aguda se estratifican en tres grupos de riesgo: bajo, intermedio y alto. Hay condiciones predictivas de muerte en este grupo de pacientes que incluyen indicadores clínicos y de laboratorio, que en relación con estos factores desarrollan durante la enfermedad insuficiencias orgánicas. Objetivo: Analizar los factores asociados con la mortalidad en pacientes pediátricos diagnosticados de leucemia linfoide aguda con insuficiencias orgánicas. Métodos: Se realizó una investigación bibliográfico-documental acerca del tema. Se consultó fundamentalmente artículos de los últimos 10 años de las bases de datos de SciELO y PubMed. Análisis y síntesis de la información: Se describe los factores de alto riesgo en pacientes pediátricos graves con insuficiencias orgánicas, desde aquellos ya establecidos en protocolos nacionales e internacionales; así como los propios que se desencadenan en los pacientes con disfunción orgánica y su relación en la evolución desfavorable del paciente. Conclusiones: Se encontró una relación entre los factores de alto riesgo en pacientes pediátricos diagnosticados de leucemia linfoide aguda con el desarrollo de insuficiencias orgánicas como complicaciones y muerte en estos grupos de enfermos.

Introduction: Pediatric patients with acute lymphoid leukemia are stratified into three risk groups: low, intermediate and high. There are conditions predictive of death in this group of patients that include clinical and laboratory indicators, which in relation to these factors develop organ insufficiencies during the disease. Objective: To relate the factors associated with mortality in pediatric patients diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukemia with organ failure. Methods: A bibliographic-documentary research on the subject was carried out. The Scielo and PubMed databases of the last ten years were fundamentally consulted. Analysis and synthesis of information: High-risk factors in severe pediatric patients with organ failure are described, from those already established in national and international protocols; as well as those that are triggered in patients with organic dysfunction and their relationship in the unfavorable evolution of the patient. Conclusions: A relationship was found between high risk factors in pediatric patients diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukemia with the development of organ failure as complications and death in these groups of patients.

Fluid?attenuated inversion recovery diffusion?weighted imaging (DWI) for evaluating chemotherapy response in patients with acute leukemia: Comparison with conventional DWI

Background: At present, the diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of acute leukemia (AL) are assessed by bone marrow aspiration, which is invasive and subject to sampling errors. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop a noninvasive and accurate imaging method to evaluate bone marrow changes in patients with AL. This study aimed to compare the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values obtained from fluid?attenuated inversion recovery diffusion?weighted imaging (FLAIR?DWI) and conventional DWI in the lumbar bone marrow of patients with AL and to investigate their performance for evaluating response to induction chemotherapy. Methods: A total of 28 patients with newly diagnosed AL and 25 patients with AL after induction chemotherapy underwent MRI scans at 1.5 Tesla using a conventional DWI and a FLAIR?DWI sequence on sagittal planes covering the lumbar bone marrow. Further, the ADC values from these two sequences, denoted as ADCCON and ADCFLAIR, were measured on multiple vertebrae. The percentage of leukemia cells in bone marrow was recorded, and bone marrow aspiration was performed on treated patients to determine complete remission (CR) and nonremission (NR). Results: ADCFLAIR [(0.453 ± 0.103) × 10?3 mm2/s] was significantly lower than ADCCON [(0.486 ± 0.096) × 10?3 mm2/s] in the 28 untreated patients (t = 3.051, P = 0.005). In the 25 treated patients, ADCFLAIR and ADCCON values [(0.566 ± 0.239) × 10?3 mm2/s] and [(0.716 ± 0.235) × 10?3 mm2/s], respectively, were higher compared with the untreated patients. The ADCCON values showed a nonsignificant difference between the CR (n = 18) and NR (n = 7) groups (t = 1.409, P = 0.305). However, the ADCFLAIR values exhibited statistically significant difference (t = 2.542, P = 0.018) between the two groups. In a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) using ADCFLAIR (0.770) was larger than that of ADCCON (0.611) in distinguishing the CR and NR patients following the chemotherapy. Conclusion: Although both ADCCON and ADCFLAIR are sensitive to tissue changes induced by chemotherapy, FLAIR?DWI outperformed conventional DWI in separating AL patients with CR from NR after chemotherapy. A possible mechanism is that FLAIR?DWI suppresses signals from free water, making the ADC measurement more sensitive to structural changes in the bone marrow

Reacción adversa a Citarabina con compromiso cutáneo: reporte de caso / Adverse reaction to Cytarabine with skin involvement: case report: case report

RESUMEN Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 67 años con un diagnóstico clínico de reacción adversa cutánea al uso del agente quimioterapéutico citarabina, el cual recibió en el contexto del tratamiento médico por leucemia mieloide aguda. Se realiza la descripción epidemiológica, signos clínicos, evolución médica y realizamos la comparación con casos similares previamente descritos. Para excluir otros diagnósticos diferenciales se realizó estudio histopatológico y su correlación con el examen clínico.

ABSTRACT We report the case of a 67-year-old female patient with a medical diagnosis of cutaneous adverse reaction to the use of the chemotherapeutic agent cytarabine, which she received in the context of medical treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. Epidemiological description, clinical signs, medical evolution, and comparison with similar cases previously described. In order to exclude other differential diagnoses, histopathological study and its correlation with the clinical examination were performed.

Bleeding per rectum during induction chemotherapy: Looking beyond the leukaemia – 2 case reports and review of literature

Synchronous malignancies involving acute leukemia and a solid organ are rare. Bleeding per rectum is a common manifestation of acute leukemia during induction chemotherapy and might mask the presence of synchronous colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC). Here we present two rare cases of acute leukemia with synchronous CRC. We also review previously reported synchronous malignancies to investigate demographics, diagnosis, and treatment modalities. Management of these cases requires a multispecialty approach

Leucemia aguda de fenotipo mixto: presentación de un caso pediátrico de Perú / Acute leukemia of mixed phenotype: presentation of a pediatric case from Peru

Introducción: Las leucemias agudas de linaje ambiguo representan un grupo heterogéneo de leucemias sin una clara diferenciación del linaje celular. Constituyen alrededor de 2 a 5 por ciento del total de leucemias agudas. Objetivo: Describir un caso de leucemia aguda de fenotipo mixto (LAFM) en un paciente pediátrico de 4 años de Lambayeque, Perú. Presentación del caso: Se evaluó una muestra de sangre periférica de un niño de 4 años de edad, cuyo inmunofenotipo por citometría de flujo evidenció una población, correspondiente al 94 por ciento de la celularidad total, de linajes mieloide compatible con diferenciación a linaje neutrófilo y en menor medida a monocítica/célula dendrítica (CD123 intenso), con expresión de mieloperoxidasa (MPO) y CD33 intensos; CD13, CD64 y CD66c parcial; y expresión de marcadores de linaje linfoide B (CD19 y CD22 intensos). Este fenotipo obliga a descartar la t(8;21), y anomalías del gen MLL. Por los mencionados hallazgos, la presente leucemia fue clasificada como leucemia aguda de fenotipo mixto, B/Mieloide. Conclusiones: Se concluyó como una leucemia aguda de fenotipo mixto B/Mieloide, con la peculiar inclinación del linaje mieloide hacia neutrófilos y en menor medida hacia monocítica/célula dendrítica(AU)

Introduction: Acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage represent a heterogeneous group of leukemias without a clear differentiation of the cell lineage. They constitute about 2 to 5 percent of all acute leukemias. Objective: To describe a case of acute leukemia of mixed phenotype (LAFM) in a 4-year-old pediatric patient from Lambayeque, Peru. Case presentation: A peripheral blood sample from a 4-year-old boy was evaluated, whose immunophenotype by flow cytometry showed a population, corresponding to 94 percent of total cellularity, of myeloid lineages compatible with differentiation to neutrophil lineage and in less to monocytic/dendritic cell (CD123 high), with expression of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and CD33 high; CD13, CD64 and CD66c partial; and expression of B lymphoid lineage markers (CD19 and CD22 high). This phenotype requires ruling out the t (8; 21), and abnormalities of the MLL gene. Due to the aforementioned findings, the present leukemia was classified as acute leukemia of mixed phenotype, B/Myeloid. Conclusions: It was concluded as an acute leukemia of mixed phenotype B/Myeloid, with the peculiar inclination of the myeloid lineage towards neutrophils and to a lesser extent towards monocytic/dendritic cell(AU)

Aberrant Expression of CD19 in Early T-cell Precursor Lymphoblastic Leukemia-A Diagnostic Challenge

A systematic approach is required to diagnose acute leukemia. Most of the cases are satisfactorily diagnosed and categorized into subtypes. However, a few cases pose diagnostic dilemma secondary to immunophenotypic aberrancies which are defined as antigens that are normally restricted to a different lineage and expressed by a neoplastic population while absent from its normal non neoplastic counterpart. We report a rare case of Early T-cell PrecursorLymphoblastic Leukemia with aberrant expression of CD19. A 7-year-old boy referred to our hospital with his cervical lymph node biopsy reported as lymphoproliferative disorder. The patient was COVID-19 positive. Chest X-ray showed mild right sided pleuraleffusion with huge mediastinal mass. Flow cytometry on peripheral blood used to establish the diagnosis. The case is reported to improve knowledge regarding aberrant expression of markers. Hematopathology teams should be aware of this phenomenon so that appropriate workup can be done to reach correct diagnosis.