Clinicopathologic Features of Histiocytic Lesions following ALL, with a Review of the Literature

We describe the clinicopathologic features of 15 patients who had histiocytic lesions that followed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Twenty-one separate histiocytic lesions were evaluated that covered a wide spectrum, some conforming to the usual categories of juvenile xanthogranulomas (5), Lange...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatric and developmental pathology 2010-05, Vol.13 (3), p.225-237
Main Authors: Castro, Eumenia C.C., Blazquez, Cristina, Boyd, Jaime, Correa, Hernán, de Chadarevian, J-P., Felgar, Raymond E., Graf, Nicole, Levy, Norman, Lowe, Eric J., Manning, John T., Proytcheva, Maria A., Senger, Christof, Shayan, Katayoon, Sterba, Jaroslav, Werner, Alice, Surti, Urvashi, Jaffe, Ronald
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Aged
Child
Child, Preschool
Combined Modality Therapy
Female
Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte - genetics
Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor - genetics
Histiocytes - immunology
Histiocytes - pathology
Histiocytosis - genetics
Histiocytosis - mortality
Histiocytosis - pathology
Histiocytosis - therapy
Humans
Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains - genetics
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
Male
Neoplasms, Multiple Primary - mortality
Neoplasms, Multiple Primary - pathology
Neoplasms, Multiple Primary - therapy
Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - genetics
Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - mortality
Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - pathology
Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - therapy
Prognosis
Survival Rate
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:We describe the clinicopathologic features of 15 patients who had histiocytic lesions that followed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Twenty-one separate histiocytic lesions were evaluated that covered a wide spectrum, some conforming to the usual categories of juvenile xanthogranulomas (5), Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (1), Langerhans' cell sarcoma (4), Rosai-Dorfman disease (1), and histiocytic sarcoma (4). Most were atypical for the category by histology, phenotype, or abnormally high turnover rate. Seven low-grade lesions defied easy categorization and were characterized only as “atypical histiocytic lesion” following ALL. For those evaluated, the molecular signature of the prior leukemia was present in the histiocytic lesion. In 3 of 15 patients, the leukemia and histiocytic lesion shared immunoglobulin H or monoclonal TCR gene rearrangements and, in 4 of 15 patients, clonal identity was documented by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Four patients died of progressive disease, 3 of whom had histiocytic sarcoma and 1 who had an atypical lesion. One patient died of recurrent ALL. The other 10 patients are alive, 7 after recurrences and treatment with surgery and/or chemotherapy. The post-ALL lesions are more aggressive than their native counterparts, but despite the demonstration of the presence of the leukemia signature in 7 of 15 patients, the prognosis is generally favorable, except for patients with histiocytic sarcoma. It remains unclear whether the histiocytic lesions arise as a line from the original ALL or whether transdifferentiation is involved.
ISSN:1093-5266
1615-5742
DOI:10.2350/09-03-0622-OA.1