Precursor B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with aberrant natural killer cell and T cell - lineage antigen expression: experience from a tertiary cancer care center

Abstract Introduction Flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCI) plays a major role in diagnosing hematologic malignancies. In patients diagnosed with precursor B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), expression of certain non-lineage/cross lineage antigens is of prognostic and cytogenetic relevance. There is a paucity of studies that have comprehensively analyzed the clinical and laboratory profiles of B-ALL patients showing aberrant T/natural killer (NK) cell antigen expression. Materials and methods This is a prospective study where 152 consecutive B-ALL patients were analyzed for aberrant expression of T/NK cell antigens (CD1a, CD5, CD4, CD7, CD8 and CD56) by FCI. The clinical and laboratory profile of these T/NK-cell antigen-expressing B-ALL patients was statistically analyzed against conventional B-ALL patients. Results In our B-ALL cohort, CD5, CD7 and CD56 expression were observed in one, six and nine patients, respectively. CD56-expressing B-ALL patients were predominantly children (89%) and presented as standard clinical risk (p = 0.010) disease with frequent ETV6-RUNX1 fusion (p = 0.021) positivity. On the contrary, CD7-expressing B-ALL patients were adolescent-young adult/adult-age skewed (83%) and had an adverse cytogenetic profile (p = 0.001), especially for the frequent presence of BCR-ABL1 fusion (p = 0.004) and KMT2A rearrangement (p = 0.045). CD7-expressing B-ALL patients had inferior event-free survival (p = 0.040) than their CD56-expressing counterparts, but there was no significant difference in the overall survival (p = 0.317). Conclusion In comparison to conventional B-ALL patients, there are significant differences in the age, cytogenetic profile and event-free survival of T/NK-cell antigen-expressing B-ALL patients.

Gastrointestinal mucormycosis in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: An uncommon but ominous complication

Invasive fungal infections constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children undergoing therapy for hematological malignancies. We report a 1-year-old boy who was receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. His clinical course was complicated by a clinical syndrome consistent with neutropenic enterocolitis to which he succumbed. Histopathology of the surgically resected bowel revealed evidence of mucormycosis. Gastrointestinal mucormycosis is an unusual presentation which requires high degree of clinical suspicion and aggressive management

Synovial Sarcoma in a Neonate.

Background: Malignant tumors in neonates are rare. Case characteristics: A tumor was detected in the left biceps of a 3-day old neonate. Tumor biopsy and molecular study confirmed the diagnosis of synovial sarcoma. The child received multi-modality treatment with surgery and chemotherapy. Outcome: The child is disease-free on follow-up period of 12 months. Message: Synovial sarcoma can rarely occur in a neonate.

Cytokeratin-positive interstitial reticulum cell sarcoma: Extranodal presentations mimicking carcinoma.

Cytokeratin-positive interstitial reticulum cell (CIRC) sarcoma is a rare type of dendritic cell tumor derived from a subset of fi broblastic reticular cells. Expression of cytokeratins and extranodal location of these tumors can lead to a misdiagnosis of carcinoma. We report two cases of CIRC sarcomas primarily involving the scalp and breast. Patients were referred with an initial diagnosis of carcinoma. Case 1 underwent wide local excision of the scalp tumor with left posterolateral neck dissection. Case 2 had modifi ed radical mastectomy for the tumor in left breast. Histopathological examination of both specimens showed an epithelioid to spindle cell malignant tumor that co-expressed CK 8, CK 18, vimentin, and smooth muscle actin. A diagnosis of CIRC sarcoma was made. Pathologists should be aware of this subset of dendritic cell sarcoma. Carcinomas, other sarcomas of the accessory dendritic cell family, and poorly differentiated malignant tumors have to be ruled out by combination of morphology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopic studies.

Multifocal histiocytic sarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract.

We report a rare case of extranodal histiocytic sarcoma with multifocal gastrointestinal tract involvement, which has not been documented in the literature so far. A diagnosis of interdigitating dendritic cell/ histiocytic sarcoma was made on the preoperative gastric biopsy. Computed tomography scan revealed multifocal, circumferential gastrointestinal wall thickening involving the stomach and jejunal loops. Patient underwent distal gastrectomy with extended D1 dissection and proximal jejunal resection with gastrojejunostomy. Immunohistochemistry profile of both the gastric and jejunal tumors was similar to the preoperative gastric biopsy. The histiocytic origin of the tumor was confirmed by positive reaction of the tumor cells for CD 163. She received four cycles of CHOP chemotherapy, and is free of disease three years, following surgery.

Malignant melanoma with osteocartilaginous differentiation.

We report a case of acral lentiginous melanoma on the plantar aspect of foot in a 50-year-old male that exhibited a prominent osteo-cartilaginous differentiation in the metastatic inguinal lymph node. The ability of melanomas to undergo multidirectional differentiation leads to a variety of histological appearances that can be misleading. Although the true nature of the tumor is most often recognized at the primary cutaneous site, metastatic tumors may closely mimic other malignant mesenchymal or neuro-ectodermal tumors. Hence awareness of this unusual phenomenon occurring in malignant melanoma is essential to avoid misdiagnosis.