Extremely Late Extramedullary Relapse of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

With the use of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) as frontline treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), there has been an increase in overall remission rates and extended survival, but relapses still occur. While most cases of relapse are limited to the bone marrow and/or blood, APL can relapse in extramedullary sites as well. These relapses may develop several years after remission. While different reasons for extramedullary relapse have been presented in the literature, the exact mechanism and reason for late relapse still needs to be defined. Our case documents the longest interval from diagnosis to relapse of APL described in the literature to date.




doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4021/jh41e