Intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21) defines a distinct cytogenetic subgroup of childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Breakage-fusion-bridge cycles followed by chromothripsis and other complex structural rearrangements of chromosome 21 underlie the mechanism giving rise to iAMP21. Patients with iAMP21 are older (median age 9 years), with a low white cell c...

Herein we describe a case of intraocular melanoma in a17-year old leukemic patient.  The history, histological findings of the enucleated eye, blood and bone marrow of the patient were investigated. The enucleated eye contained epitheloid cell type melanoma instead of leukemic cell infiltration.  We conclude that intraocular malignant melanoma can occur in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

1. Reiter A, Schrappe M, Luwdig WD, et al. Chemotherapy in 998 unselected childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients. Results and conclusions of the multicenter trial ALL-BFM 86. Blood 1994; 84:3122-33. 2. Wan JH, Trainor KJ, Brisco MJ, Morley AA. Monoclonality in B-cell lymphoma detected in paraffin wax embedded using the polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Pathol 1990; 43:888-90. 3. Brisco...

Aberrant expression of CD79a has been reported in neoplastic cells in peripheral T cell lymphoma, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia (especially those with t(8;21)). In this report, we document the first report of CD79a positivity in erythroid precursor cells in bone marrow. In all, we document this finding in five of 18 re-staging bone marrow trephine samples in pat...

Two IgM monoclonal antibodies (MAb) with strong reactivity for granulocytes and to a lesser extent for lurkat cell lines were established by immunizing BALBI c mice with a histiocytic cell line (UY37). These two MAbs (designated as 6C9 and 4C4) reacted with blast cells of T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients as well as leukemic cells from pat...

BACKGROUND In the ALL-BFM 95 trial for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, response to a prednisone pre-phase (prednisone response) was used for risk stratification in combination with age and white blood cell count at diagnosis, response to induction therapy and specific genetic high-risk features. DESIGN AND METHODS Cytomorphological marrow response was prospectively assessed on Day ...

We describe a case of bilateral exudative retinal detachment associated with prodromal symptoms simulating the presentation of acute Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease that was eventually diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A 42-year-old man presented with sudden visual loss in both eyes for two weeks. He complained of intermittent headache, neck stiffness and tinnitus for a month. His best-co...

Differentiation arrest is a hallmark of acute leukemia. Genomic alterations in B cell differentiation factors such as PAX5, IKZF1, and EBF-1 have been identified in more than half of all cases of childhood B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Here, we describe a perturbed epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of ZNF423 in ALL as a novel mechanism interfering with B cell different...

BACKGROUND Resistance to therapy and subsequent relapse remain major challenges in the clinical management of relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. As the bone marrow environment plays an important role in survival and chemotherapy resistance of leukemia cells by activating different signaling pathways, such as the VLA-4 and PI3K/Akt pathways, we studied the prognostic and biological...