Red cell exchange for rapid leukoreduction in adults with hyperleukocytosis and leukostasis.

ABSTRACT: We show that red cell exchange (RCE) treats hyperleukocytosis in acute leukemia. RCE provided similar leukoreduction to standard therapeutic leukoreduction and could be superior in patients with severe anemia or monocytic leukemias or when requiring rapid treatment.

Acute monocytic leukemia with KMT2A::LASP1 developed 9 months after diagnosis of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia in a 2-year-old boy.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is known as one of the subsequent malignant neoplasms that can develop after cancer treatment, but it is difficult to distinguish from relapse when the preceding cancer is leukemia. We report a 2-year-old boy who developed acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL, French-American-British classification [FAB]: M7) at 18 months of age and achieved complete remission with multi-agent chemotherapy without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Nine months after diagnosis and 4 months after completing treatment for AMKL, he developed acute monocytic leukemia (AMoL) with the KMT2A::LASP1 chimeric gene (FAB: M5b). The second complete remission was achieved using multi-agent chemotherapy and he underwent cord blood transplantation 4 months after AMoL was diagnosed. He is currently alive and disease free at 39 and 48 months since his AMoL and AMKL diagnoses, respectively. Retrospective analysis revealed that the KMT2A::LASP1 chimeric gene was detected 4 months after diagnosis of AMKL. Common somatic mutations were not detected in AMKL or AMoL and no germline pathogenic variants were detected. Since the patient's AMoL was different from his primary leukemia of AMKL in terms of morphological, genomic, and molecular analysis, we concluded that he developed a subsequent leukemia rather than a relapse of his primary leukemia.

Peculiarities of abnormal karyotypes formation in therapy-related acute leukemias.

AIM: To determine ways of formation of abnormal karyotypes in two clinical cases of secondary acute leukemias of myeloid and lymphoid lineages. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Bone marrow cells of one patient with therapy-related acute monoblastic/monocytic leukemia and one patient with therapy-related acute lymphoblastic leukemia were examined by cytogenetic GTG banding technique. RESULTS: An unusually large number of quantitative and structural anomalies of chromosomes in therapy-related acute monoblastic/monocytic leukemia have been established, which have many features in common with chromothripsis, namely instability of clones that manifested itself through quantitative anomalies (trisomy, monosomy, marker chromosomes, including chromosome 5), structural - t(9;11), deletions of the long arm of chromosomes 8 and 14, derivatives of chromosomes 3 and 7, ring chromosomes. In case of secondary acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the anomalous clone with balanced translocation in all 20 metaphase plates 46,XX,t(1;15)(p21;q24) has been registered, which is not described in the literature. Therefore, the diagnostic and prognostic value of such anomaly is unknown. CONCLUSIONS: Rearrangement with the involvement of the locus 11q23 was recorded in the case of chemotherapy treatment without topoisomerase II inhibitors. The complex karyotype formed after chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which is a criterion for an unfavorable prognosis of the disease, is considered as the equivalent of chromothripsis. t(1;15) is considered as an abnormality that can be attributed to the group of favorable secondary acute lymphoblastic leukemia prognosis.

Prognostic stratification of molecularly and clinically distinct subgroup in children with acute monocytic leukemia.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of children with acute monocytic leukemia (AML-M5) remains unsatisfactory and the risk profile is still controversial. We aim to investigate the prognostic value of clinical and cytogenetic features and propose a new risk stratification in AML-M5 children. METHODS: We included 132 children with AML-M5. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were documented. Cox regression was performed to evaluate the potential risk factors of prognosis. RESULTS: The 5-year-OS was 46.0% (95% confidence intervals, 41.6%-50.4%) in all patients. There was significantly lower OS in the age ≤ 3 years old (P = .009) and hyperleukocytosis (P < .001). The FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3)-internal tandem duplication (ITD) and MLL-rearrangement carriers were associated with fewer survivors in all patients (37.1% and 36.7%) and chemotherapy-only group (19.0% and 35.0%). Notably, the number of survivor with MLL-rearrangement did not increase in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) group. According to the Cox regression analysis, HSCT was a significantly favorable factor (P = .001), while hyperleukocytosis, age ≤ 3 years old, and BM blast ≥ 70% adversely affected the OS in all patients (all P < .05). Additionally, FLT3-ITD was a risk factor for OS in the chemotherapy-only group (P = .023), while hyperleukocytosis and age ≤ 3 years independently contributed to poor PFS (both P < .05). In comparison to the standard-risk group, significant poorer outcome was found in the high-risk group (both P < .005). CONCLUSIONS: We propose that AML-M5 children with any of MLL-rearrangement, FLT3-ITD, hyperleukocytosis, BM blast ≥ 70%, or age ≤ 3 years old are classified into the high-risk group, and HSCT is beneficial especially in patients with FLT3-ITD mutation, hyperleukocytosis, and age ≤ 3 years old. Importantly, the choice of HSCT should be made more carefully in children with MLL-rearrangement for its suboptimal performance.

[Congenital leukemia showing lineage switch following induction chemotherapy and attaining long-term remission after HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation].

Congenital leukemia is a rare subgroup of childhood leukemia. Lineage switches in leukemic cells are relatively rare events, which have been occasionally reported in congenital leukemia. To the best of our knowledge, the survival of congenital leukemia patients with lineage switch has not been previously documented. This lack of documentation may be attributable to extremely poor prognosis of these patients. We describe a case of a newborn female with initial diagnosis of MLL-AF4 positive B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who developed lineage switch to acute monocytic leukemia following the induction therapy. Although morphological remission was temporary, she received an HLA-haploidentical bone marrow transplant from her father with non-remission status because of an early relapse at the age of 4 months. Despite many difficulties such as graft-versus-host disease, growth impairment, and psychomotor retardation, she remained in remission for 3 years and 7 months after the transplant. This successful outcome suggests that the graft-versus-leukemia effect was potentially accomplished in the patient. Taken together, early HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplant following remission is required for congenital leukemia patients with lineage switch, and it may be an effective alternative for refractory patients.

Spurious Thrombocytosis Caused by Tumor Cell Lysis in a Patient with Acute Monocytic Leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Tumor lysis syndrome can occur after treatment of fast-growing cancers. Early detection of tumor lysis is crucial to minimize the toxic effects on organs and potentially life-threatening complications. METHODS: A patient with acute monocytic leukemia presented with spurious thrombocytosis. A peripheral blood smear was stained with alpha-naphthyl butyrate esterase to discriminate tumor cell fragments from platelets. RESULTS: Peripheral blood smears showed widespread leukemic cell fragmentation. Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) after treatment for acute monocytic leukemia was diagnosed. The patient underwent chemo- and radiotherapy followed by umbilical cord blood transplantation and remains symptom-free two years after transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with thrombocytosis accompanied by bizarre scatter-grams on automatic hematologic analyzers, further diagnostic procedures should be performed to determine the exact cause of thrombocytosis.

How unique is pure erythroid leukaemia? A retrospective analysis of seven cases and review of the literature.

AIMS: Pure erythroid leukaemia (PEL) is a rare subtype of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and its clinicopathological features are not well-defined. The aim of this study was to describe the immunophenotypic, cytogenetic and clinical features of PEL and to compare these with cases of AML with ≥ 50% erythroblasts. METHODS: Cases of PEL according to WHO morphological criteria diagnosed at three institutions from 1997 to 2013 were included. A comparison cohort comprised of AML with ≥ 50% erythroblasts. The clinical, histopathology, immunophenotypic and cytogenetic features of cases were analysed. We also reviewed the existing literature on PEL, and combined our cohort with previously reported cases of PEL in a pooled analysis. RESULTS: There were seven cases of PEL diagnosed at our institutions. There was a high incidence of either prior chemoradiotherapy exposure or evolution from pre-existing myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) (71%). The leukaemic blasts frequently expressed glycophorin C (100%), CD117 (83%) and were myeloperoxidase negative (83%). Complex karyotypes were present in 83% of cases. Median overall survival was 2.9 months. Compared with AML with ≥ 50% erythroblasts, cases of PEL demonstrated a higher incidence of adverse-risk cytogenetics (p=0.01) and prior exposure to chemoradiotherapy (p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: PEL appears to be a unique entity that is often secondary or therapy related, commonly features a complex karyotype and has a poor prognosis. It is morphologically and immunophenotypically distinct from other cases of AML with erythroid hyperplasia.

[Successful treatment of a patient with two hematologic tumors: double-hit lymphoma and acute myelomonoblastic leukemia].

Double-hit (DH) lymphoma, an extremely aggressive variant of B-cell lymphoma, is accompanied by chromosomal abnormalities leading to the activation of a few oncogenes, one of which is the c-MYC gene in conjunction with BCL2 or BCL6 gene rearrangements. There are most common cases of MYC/8q24 and BCL2/18q21 gene rearrangements (MYC/BCL-2 DH lymphoma). The tumor is characterized by an aggressive clinical course and a poor response to chemotherapy (CT). The median survival in patients with DH lymphomas varies from 4.5 to 18 months. Such patients are generally resistant to CHOP-21 and R-CHOP-21 therapy regimens. For the treatment of patients with DH lymphoma, the Hematology Research Center, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, chose an original BL-M-04 polychemotherapy (PCT) protocol in combination with rituximab, followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). The paper describes the experience in successfully treating a patient with two hematologic tumors: 1) MYC/BCL-2 DH lymphoma with high-dose PCT cycles, followed by allo-SCT, and 2) a metachronously developed second tumor (acute myelomonoblastic leukemia (AMML)) with CT cycles, followed by auto-SCT. The incidence of tumors induced by the previous high-dose CT for aggressive lymphomas for 10 years is 0.7 to 10%. As a rule, the development of secondary AMML is preceded by a history of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS); characteristic chromosomal abnormalities (deletions of the long arm of chromosomes 5 and 7) are detectable. In this case, the follow-up was 3 months before the development of AMML, during this period the patient was not found to have laboratory signs of MDS (anemia, thrombocytopenia) or chromosomal abnormalities associated with secondary MDS/AML. The presence of a leukemic stem cell is associated with the occurrence and development of hemoblastosis; that of the similar cell populations that may cause B-cell lymphomas remains uncertain. The described case may have defect in a hematopoietic stem cell that gives rise to both germs of hematopoiesis, as well as complete donor chimerism of bone marrow hematopoiesis, which gives hope to long-term remission in both DH lymphoma and AMML.

Therapeutic aerosol bioengineering of siRNA for the treatment of inflammatory lung disease by TNFα gene silencing in macrophages.

The development of small interfering RNA (siRNA) to silence specific genes offers a new means of understanding and treating a range of respiratory diseases, including inflammatory lung disease. The alveolar macrophage (AM) is a key component of the inflammatory process in the lungs, associated with high levels of gene expression in inflammatory lung disease and therefore an attractive target for therapeutic siRNA. Delivery of siRNA to macrophages presents a significant delivery challenge, as fully differentiated alveolar macrophages are difficult to access and transfect. In this study we engineered particles suitable for inhalation that would efficiently transfect macrophages postinhalation. The process for encapsulation of siRNA in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microparticles (MPs) was optimized using a double emulsion technique, and the resulting particles were characterized for size, shape, aerosol characteristics, encapsulation efficiency, and integrity of encapsulated siRNA. The cell uptake of the siRNA-loaded microparticles was determined by flow cytometry, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and high-content analysis (HCA) with MPs capable of transfecting up to 55% of cells. Anti-TNFα siRNA-MPs were then prepared to study the functional activity of encapsulated siRNA in LPS-stimulated macrophages as a model of inflammation. The anti-TNFα siRNA-MPs were able to decrease TNFα expression by 45% over 48 h in the differentiated human monocytic cell line THP-1 compared to negligible knockdown using commercial transfection reagents and offered significant, sustained siRNA knockdown of TNFα in primary monocytes for up to 72 h.

Pulmonary presentation of relapsed acute myeloid leukemia.

Extramedullary manifestations of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), often referred to as myeloid sarcoma (MS), occur relatively commonly in children with newly diagnosed or relapsed AML and have been associated with certain French-American-British morphologies and gene/chromosomal rearrangements. The most common locations of MS include the skin, orbit, skeleton, central nervous system, skin, and gut. Pulmonary MS is uncommon in adults and is extremely rare in children. We report the case of a 19-year-old man with French-American-British M5 AML, who before bone marrow transplant, presented with fever, hypotension, and respiratory symptoms that were ultimately attributed to pulmonary MS.

Regulated cellular exposure to non-thermal plasma allows preferentially directed apoptosis in acute monocytic leukemia cells.

This research investigated the modulation of cell death through exposure of non-thermal resistive barrier based indirect air plasma on monocytic leukemia cancer cells (THP-1). Specifically, we explored cell death through apoptosis and necrosis, since generally apoptotic cell death has a limited inflammatory response as compared to necrosis. We have demonstrated a preference for apoptosis in plasma treated THP-1 cells, under specific plasma characteristics and dosage levels, using fluorescent dyes conjugated with annexin V followed by identification of the cells through fluorescent microscopy and flowcytometry diagnostics. At much higher plasma dosages, the necrotic morphologies in the THP-1 cells were observed. The presented outcomes in the death morphologies of plasma treated THP-1 cells signify the need for further investigation on the cellular mechanisms induced by the indirect plasma exposure. The results obtained from this research indicate the significant potential for the use of our portable non-thermal resistive barrier based indirect plasma treatment method as an inexpensive and less invasive method for treating leukemia and other cancerous lesions.

[Acute monoblastic leukemia with MLL/AF9 rearrangement which developed 18 months after myeloid sarcoma onset].

We describe a 36-month-old boy with acute monoblastic leukemia (AMoL M5a) and mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL)-AF9 rearrangement. At 18 months of age, he presented with swelling on the back of his hand that was considered to be an inflammatory change, but no hematological abnormalities were found. However, blasts with MLL-AF9 rearrangement were detected in biopsied tissue taken at the time and in peripheral blood samples taken 18 months later. These findings indicate that myeloid sarcoma with MLL-AF9 rearrangement may ultimately, though slowly, progress to AMoL.

[Successful treatment with sorafenib for primary refractory acute monoblastic leukemia with FLT3-ITD].

A 6-year-old boy was diagnosed with FLT3-ITD+acute monoblastic leukemia (AMoL). He showed resistance to 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy with etoposide, cytarabine, and mitoxantrone or idarubicin performed according to the Japan Pediatric Leukemia/Lymphoma Study Group (JPLSG) AML-05 protocol. His condition was also refractory to salvage FLAI-GO (fludarabine, cytarabine, idarubicin, and gemtuzumab ozogamicin) chemotherapy. Sequential administration of sorafenib at doses of up to 300 mg/day resulted in the first remission. He underwent bone marrow transplantation from his HLA 2-locus mismatched father. Recurrence was observed on post-transplantation day 71. A sustained partial response was observed after alternate-day readministration of sorafenib 150mg/day. In spite of a donor lymphocyte infusion, his blast cell count increased on day 245. Chemotherapy with an increased dose of sorafenib reduced the blast cell count. Although a second HLA-mismatched allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transfusion was performed, the patient died of regimen-related toxicity. Herein, we report a pediatric case of primary refractory FLT3-ITD+ AMoL. Further prospective studies are necessary to validate the efficacy of sorafenib treatment.

Leukemia cutis amidst a psoriatic flare: a case report.

Leukemia Cutis (LC) has many clinical morphologies that present a diagnostic challenge. This case report of a 58-year-old man experiencing a flare of psoriasis elucidates the need for clinical suspicion when a history of leukemia is present. A skin biopsy revealed histopathologic findings of psoriasis and an infiltrate of mononuclear cells consistent with LC. Upon review of the literature, 2 additional cases were reported of concurrent psoriasis and LC.

Intensive care unit management of patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia with no organ failure.

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may present with early complications from sepsis or leukemic infiltration. Benefits from early in-intensive care unit (ICU) hematological management was evaluated in 42 adults with newly diagnosed AML with hematological risk of early death (age 46 years, French-American-British [FAB] M4/5 58%, leukocytes 103 × 10(9)/L) first admitted to the ICU without immediate life support (early-ICU). Controls were 42 patients primarily admitted to hematology wards, matched for age, leukocytes and FAB subtype. Twenty (47.6%) control patients were subsequently admitted to the ICU (late-ICU). Late-ICU patients presented with increased respiratory and cardiac rates, decreased oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) and blood pressure, at hospital admission. Late-ICU admission resulted in increased use of mechanical ventilation (60% vs. 33%) and vasopressors (60% vs. 16%), longer ICU stay (9 [6-25] vs. 5 [2-9] days) and decreased ICU survival (65% vs. 79%). Direct admission to the ICU of patients with high-risk AML with physiological disturbances but no organ dysfunction is associated with improved outcomes.

Acute monoblastic leukemia that switched lineage at relapse to acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a case report.

We herein present the case of an acute monoblastic leukemia infant who relapsed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Complete remission was achieved after an acute myeloblastic leukemia-directed chemotherapy, but the patient relapsed with pro-B ALL. As he did not respond to acute myeloblastic leukemia-type reinduction therapy, he was switched to ALL-type chemotherapy, and a complete remission was achieved. Unrelated cord blood stem cell transplantation was performed, but he relapsed with pro-B ALL again. After he received ALL-type chemotherapy, he underwent another bone marrow transplant from his human leukocyte antigen mismatch mother, and has been free from recurrence for over 8 months.