[Very late recurrence (14 years) of a lymphoblastic leukemia-lymphoma]

We report a two and a half years old girl diagnosed in 1972 of lymphoblastic leukemia-lymphoma with pleural, mediastinal and bone marrow involvement. Clinical remission developed with chemotherapy (induction and maintenance). This situation persisted until June 1986 (14 years after the diagnosis and 11 years after cessation of any therapy), when mediastinal mass, pleural effusion and bilateral renal infiltration developed again, and also peripheral lymphadenopathy; bone marrow involvement is now absent. This case is considered as an exceptionally late relapse. Other possibilities are discussed, while the difficulty to define "cure" in these patients is emphasized.