Acute promyelocytic leukemia in early pregnancy with translocation t(15;17) and variant PML/RARA fusion transcripts
Authors
Tae Sung Park ; Seung Tae Lee ; Jin Seok Kim ; Jaewoo Song ; Kyung-A Lee ; Sue Jung Kim ; Yoon-Mi Seok ; Hyeon-Ji Lee ; Jeong-Hyun Han ; Jong-Kee Kim ; Eun Yup Lee ; Jong Rak Choi
Citation
CANCER GENETICS AND CYTOGENETICS , Vol.188(1) : 48-51, 2009
A 32-year-old pregnant woman in the 13th gestational week was brought to Severance Hospital with gum bleeding and easy bruising. Initial laboratory results revealed anemia and thrombocytopenia. In a peripheral blood smear, 81% of leukocytes were large, abnormal promyelocytes. Bone marrow aspiration showed a hypercellular marrow with packed leukemic promyelocytes, and chromosome study revealed a karyotype of 46,XX,t(15;17)(q22;q21)[10]/46,XX[10]. In addition, variant fusion transcripts of PML/RARA were detected in the marrow specimen. The patient was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and was treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and idarubicin. One month from the patient's initial diagnosis a follow-up bone marrow examination was performed, revealing complete remission (CR). We know of no previous reports of APL during pregnancy associated with variant PML/RARA fusion transcripts. Here, we describe a novel case of APL in a pregnant woman with a t(15;17) translocation and variant fusion transcripts