Appearance of large granular lymphoblasts at relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Duru F., Ertem U., Dagdemir A., Tacyildiz N., İKİNCİOĞULLARI K. A.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY, vol.4, no.2, pp.101, 1997 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 4 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 1997
  • Journal Name: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.101
  • Keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, large granular lymphoblast, CELL, CHILDHOOD, LYMPHOCYTES, PHENOTYPE, NEOPLASMS, DISORDER
  • Ankara University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Clonal variations and shifts in the phenotype and karyotype of the blast cells at relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have been reported. Here we report a striking morphologic alteration in the blast cells, at relapse, in a 15-year-old boy with ALL. In this patient, while the lymphoblasts were completely in L1 morphology of French-American-British classification, large granular lymphoblasts resembling natural killer cells predominated at relapse. The immunophenotype of these large granular cells, however, was compatible with T-cell ALL. Although the lack of initial karyotype and phenotype data precludes any conclusion about lineage or karyotype switching in our patient, we believe that it is worthwhile to report such a striking morphologic finding in ALL.