Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Fatal Scedosporium prolificans Sepsis After Eculizumab Treatment for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria: a Case Report

Eculizumab has become the standard of care for patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). As more patients are treated, the long-term outcomes of these patients will become apparent. We recently treated a patient who developed PNH in the setting of aplastic anemia. The patient developed acute myeloid leukemia less than three years after initiating eculizumab. The patient also died suddenly from Scedosporium sepsis during induction therapy. This patient\u27s course seemed more aggressive than would be expected. The possible effect of complement blockade is discussed

Acute Myeloid Leukemia in a Father and Son with a Germline Mutation of ASXL1

Background: Myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia usually occur sporadically in older adults. More recently cases of familial acute myeloid leukemia and/or myelodysplastic syndrome have been reported. Case presentation: Currently we report a father and son who both developed myelodysplastic syndrome that progressed to acute myeloid leukemia. Both patients were found to have the identical mutation of ASXL1 on nextgen sequencing of both hematologic and nonhematologic tissues. Conclusions: These cases support the diagnosis of a germline mutation of ASXL1

CD34(+) Therapy-Related Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in a Patient Previously Treated for Breast Cancer

Therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a long term complication of chemotherapy for a variety of cancers. In most cases, the marrow demonstrates high risk cytogenetics and the prognosis is poor. In a minority of patients good risk cytogenetics, including t(15;17)(q22;q12), are seen and the patient\u27s prognosis is similar to those who have de novo disease. Currently we present a patient who developed therapy-related acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) after chemoradiotherapy for breast cancer. This case was especially atypical because the leukemic cells were CD34(+), which is an unusual immunophenotype for APL. Recognition that this patient had APL, rather than the more common therapy-related MDS or AML, was imperative to initiate chemotherapy in a timely manner

Complete Remission After Single Agent Blinatumomab in a Patient with Pre-B Acute Lymphoid Leukemia Relapsed and Refractory to Three Prior Regimens: HyperCVAD, High Dose Cytarabine Mitoxantrone and CLAG

BACKGROUND: The current standard of care for relapsed and refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is combination chemotherapy. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of highly refractory ALL who was treated with blinatumomab. The ALL in this patient relapsed within a month after completion of hyperCVAD regimen and was refractory to high dose mitoxantrone/cytarabine and CLAG regimens. CONCLUSION: This highly refractory pre-B Ph(-) ALL was induced to complete remission after one course of single agent blinatumomab

Severe toxicity of skin rash, fever and diarrhea associated with imatinib: case report and review of skin toxicities associated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is characterized by a Philadelphia chromosome which contains an oncogene, bcr-abl. This oncogene encodes a tyrosine kinase which is constitutively activated. Imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has been widely used in the treatment of CML. Dasatinib and nilotinib were recently approved for the treatment of CML. Other TKIs, such as bosutinib, erlotinib, and sunitinib, are under study for the treatment of CML as well as other hematologic and solid malignancies. Skin rash has been reported as one of the most common side effects of the TKIs. Here we present a case of severe skin rash together with unusual symptoms of high fever and diarrhea induced by imatinib in a CML patient. The dermatologic toxicities from a variety of tyrosine kinase inhibitors are reviewed and general principles of management are also discussed

t(8;14;18): A 3-way chromosome translocation in two patients with Burkitt's lymphoma/leukemia

Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is a heterogeneous group of highly aggressive mature B-cell malignancies. It is characterized by a high rate of turnover of malignant cells and deregulation of the c-myc gene. It is typically associated with a t(8;14) translocation. Dual translocation of t(8;14) (c-myc) and t(14;18) (bcl-2) was reported to be associated with extremely poor prognosis. This study reports a novel t(8;14;18) triple translocation in two patients with Burkitt's lymphoma

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Co-Existing with JAK2 V617F Positive Myeloproliferative Neoplasm: A Case Report

The V617F mutation of Janus-associated kinase 2 (JAK2) is commonly seen in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Transformation of JAK2 positive MPNs to acute leukemia has been reported. We here report a case of acute promyelocytic leukemia which was later confirmed to have a co-existing JAK2 V617F positive MPN. In addition, the patient was found to have FLT3-TKD mutation, which, together with PML/RARa, could play a role in the MPN transformation to APL

Successful Treatment of Ibrutinib-Associated Central Nervous System Hemorrhage with Platelet Transfusion Support

Ibrutinib is a novel targeted therapy for B-cell malignancies. Hemorrhagic events were reported in the original trials, however the mechanism of bleeding is just being elucidated. Recent studies have demonstrated platelet dysfunction as a mechanism of bleeding. Currently we report two patients who developed life-threatening central nervous system hemorrhage while receiving ibrutinib for chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma, respectively. Both patients improved rapidly after platelet transfusions even though their platelet counts were normal or only mildly reduced at the time of hemorrhage. We suggest that platelet transfusions can ameliorate the platelet dysfunction defect of ibrutinib and can support the patient through the critical period until new platelet production occurs