Prolymphocytic and Richter's Transformation in Peripheral Blood: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

The indolent course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) is occasionally altered by transformation to a histologically distinct, rapidly progressive, and clinically unresponsive hematologic malignant neoplasm, a phenomenon known as Richter's transformation. The most likely site of transformation is enlarging lymph nodes. The malignant cells of Richter's transformation can occasionally be seen in the bone marrow and only very rarely in the peripheral blood. We report an interesting case of CLL which underwent a full spectrum of transformation from classical CLL to prolymphocytic leukemia and finally to Richter's transformation with an unusual feature being a leukemic Richter's transformation, i.e. Richter's transformation in the peripheral blood.




J Hematol. 2014;3(3):86-88
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jh121w