Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic-cell neoplasia: a challenging case report

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic-cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is an extremely rare disease that originates from dendritic cells and is associated with a poor overall survival (OS). Diagnostic and therapeutic standards are less well-established in comparison to other leukemic conditions and standards of care are lacking. Morphologic and molecular similarities to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) are hard to distinguish. We here report a BPDCN patient with a long, challenging diagnostic period. While bone marrow biopsies initially failed to prove the correct diagnosis, a cutaneous biopsy finally identified a CD4