Leukaemic Presentation of Small-Cell Alk-Positive Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma in a Young Woman-Report of a Case with 9-Year Survival.

Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) with leukaemic presentation (either ab initio or along the course of the disease) has been rarely reported. Irrespective of ALK expression in the neoplastic cells, it features a dismal prognosis. We report a rare case of leukaemic, small cell variant ALK-positive ALCL with 9-year survival in a young woman who was treated upfront with corticosteroids and standard chemotherapy, and review thoroughly the previously published cases.

ZBTB16-RARα-Positive Atypical Promyelocytic Leukemia: A Case Report.

Background: The majority of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) manifest a specific chromosomal translocation t(15;17)(q22;q21), characterized by the fusion of RARA and PML genes. However, a proportion of APL cases are due to variant translocations, being t(11;17) (q23;q21) the most common amongst them. With the major exception of ZBTB16-RARA t(11;17) APL, these variant APL cases present similar morphological features as classic APL and are characterized by a lack of differentiation response to retinoids.