A complex t(15;22;17)(q22;q11.2;q21) variant of APL

The present study described an extremely rare case of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) characterized by a complex three‑way (15;22;17)(q22;q11.2;q21) translocation. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a specific subtype of acute myeloid leukemia with distinctive clinical and therapeutic characteristics. Besides being characterized by the t(15;17)(q22;q12) translocation, this subtype is also notable for its response to all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) treatment. APL is highly responsive to a combination of ATRA and chemotherapeutic agents, achieving over 90 % complete remission rates and over 80 % long-term remission rates. In this case, a 79-year-old male patient presented with complaints of weakness, fatigue, and petechial rash, with no other significant medical history except for diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Conventional cytogenetic methods, dual-color dual-fusion, and dual-color break-apart fluorescent in situ hybridization techniques together identified the t(15;22;17) translocation. RT-PCR analysis was performed for expression of PML/RARA fusion transcripts. The patient, diagnosed with APL, exhibited a complete response to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and idarubicin treatment. In this paper, we present the second documented case of t(15;22;17) and explore the remarkable remission observed following treatment with All-Trans Retinoic Acid (ATRA).