Isolated extramedullary cutaneous relapse despite concomitant severe graft-vs.-host disease and tissue chimerism analysis in a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A case report


Kantarcioglu B., Bekoz H. S., Ogret Y., Cakir A., Kivanc D., Oguz F., ...Daha Fazla

MOLECULAR AND CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, cilt.5, sa.6, ss.745-749, 2016 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 5 Sayı: 6
  • Basım Tarihi: 2016
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3892/mco.2016.1052
  • Dergi Adı: MOLECULAR AND CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.745-749
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment option for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The curative potential of allo-HSCT for ALL is, in part, due to the graft-vs.-leukemia (GVL) effect, in addition to the intensive conditioning chemo-radiotherapy. However, relapse remains the major cause of treatment failure following allo-HSCT for ALL. In the allo-HSCT setting, testing for genetic markers of hematopoietic chimerism has become a part of the routine diagnostic program. Routine chimerism analysis is usually performed in peripheral blood or bone marrow; in fact, little is known about the value of tissue chimerism in patients with extramedullary relapse (EMR) after the allo-HSCT setting. The present study reports on, a case of a patient with ALL who experienced isolated cutaneous EMR despite ongoing graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD), and the results of peripheral blood and skin tissue chimerism studies using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of short tandem repeats (STR-PCR). The present case demonstrates that, although complete remission and/or chimerism may be achieved in the bone marrow, chimerism achieved at the tissue level, and the subsequent GVL effect, may be limited, despite concomitant severe GVHD following allo-HSCT. Our tissue chimerism analysis results provide a good example of how skin tissue may be a 'sanctuary' site for effector cells of GVL, despite active GVHD and complete hematopoetic chimerism.