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Reappearance of acute lymphoblastic leukemia 34 years after initial diagnosis: a case report and study of the origin of the reappeared blasts

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Abstract

Lymphoblasts of acute lymphoblastic leukemia origin reappeared in a male patient 34 years after the initial diagnosis. Comparison of DNA profiles of the initial and reappeared lymphoblasts revealed a partially identical sequence, indicating the possibility that these lymphoblasts may have been present as preleukemic stem cells at the time of diagnosis and remained dormant for a long period until additional events conferred proliferative activity to these dormant preleukemic stem cells. Thus, in some cases of very late relapse, the reappearance of lymphoblasts may not be due to the relapse of the original leukemic clone, but to a clonal progression of a pre-existing subclone derived from preleukemic stem cells.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate Prof. Mel Greaves for his valuable suggestions.

Conflict of interest

Any of authors, Fumio Bessho, Nobuyuki Takayama, Eva Fronkova and Jan Zuna, have nothing that should be disclosed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Kyorin University School of Medicine, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, 181-8611, Japan

    Fumio Bessho

  2. Second Department of Internal Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobuyuki Takayama

  3. CLIP, Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Eva Fronkova & Jan Zuna

Authors
  1. Fumio Bessho
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  2. Nobuyuki Takayama
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  3. Eva Fronkova
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  4. Jan Zuna
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fumio Bessho.

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Bessho, F., Takayama, N., Fronkova, E. et al. Reappearance of acute lymphoblastic leukemia 34 years after initial diagnosis: a case report and study of the origin of the reappeared blasts. Int J Hematol 97, 525–528 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-013-1289-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-013-1289-9

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