Related Experiment Videos
Treatment of T-prolymphocytic leukemia with nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation
L Garderet1, H Bittencourt, A Kaliski
1Service d'Hématologie-Greffe de Moelle, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France. laurent.garderet@sat.ap-hop-paris.fr
Aim:
T-prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a rare disease of the elderly characterized by a high white blood cell count and organomegaly, and is currently incurable. Our aim was to elicit graft-versus-leukemia reactions in a patient with T-PLL.
Methods:
A 52-yr-old woman with refractory T-PLL underwent a nonmyeloablative regimen followed by allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (a "minitransplant") from her HLA-matched sibling.
Results:
There was no treatment related toxicity other than neutropenia. Engraftment was successful. The patient experienced no graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) at any time but, on day 84 after transplantation, had a relapse in the central nervous system. Despite infusion of donor lymphocytes and intralumbar chemotherapy, she died on day 157 of systemic disease.
Conclusion:
The reasons why treatment may have failed are discussed (nature of disease, disease progression, treatment schedule).