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Updated: May 13, 2026

Assessment of the Metabolic Profile of Primary Leukemia Cells
Published on: November 21, 2018
Acute lymphocytic leukaemia presenting as a metabolic bone disease
Suja P Sukumar1, Karthik Balachandran, Jaya Prakash Sahoo
1Department of Endocrinology, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, India.
Abstract:
A 7-year-old boy presented with the acute onset of low backache of 2 months duration. An x-ray of thoracolumbar spine revealed multiple vertebral fractures, and biochemical evaluation showed hypercalcaemia with a suppressed parathyroid hormone which raised the possibilities of malignancy, granulomatous conditions or vitamin D toxicity. Despite the absence of blast cells in his blood, the bone marrow biopsy was unequivocally diagnostic of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
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