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Updated: Jun 23, 2025
Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Purification of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells from the Mouse Bone Marrow
Published on: November 4, 2016
Flow Cytometry Profiling of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasms
1Department of Pathology, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, 111 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401, USA.
Insights
This review summarizes plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) proliferation disorders, including blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) and myeloid neoplasms. It offers a flow cytometry approach for diagnosis and discusses treatment challenges.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Immunology
- Oncology
Background:
- Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) can exhibit diverse immunophenotypic presentations in various hematologic malignancies.
- Distinguishing between different pDC-associated entities is crucial for accurate diagnosis and patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the immunophenotypic spectrum of distinct entities associated with pDC proliferation.
- To provide a flow cytometry-based diagnostic strategy for these challenging conditions.
- To discuss residual disease evaluation, therapeutic challenges, and differential diagnoses.
Main Methods:
- Review of literature on pDC-associated neoplasms.
- Analysis of immunophenotypic data from flow cytometry studies.
- Discussion of diagnostic criteria and therapeutic considerations.
Main Results:
- Identified three main categories of pDC proliferation: BPDCN, MPDCP (often in CMML), and myeloid neoplasms with pDC differentiation (including pDC-AML).
- Detailed the immunophenotypic profiles characteristic of each entity.
- Highlighted the potential for pDC-like immunophenotypes in other myeloid leukemias, complicating diagnosis.
Conclusions:
- A structured flow cytometry approach is essential for diagnosing pDC-associated neoplasms.
- Understanding the immunophenotypic variability is key to differentiating these entities.
- Further research is needed to address challenges in residual disease monitoring and therapy for pDC neoplasms.
Abstract:
In this review, we aim to provide a summary of the diverse immunophenotypic presentations of distinct entities associated with plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) proliferation. These entities include the following: (1) blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN); (2) mature pDC proliferation (MPDCP), most commonly seen in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML); and (3) myeloid neoplasms with pDC differentiation, in which pDCs show a spectrum of maturation from early immature pDCs to mature forms, most commonly seen in acute myeloid leukemia (pDC-AML). Our aim is to provide a flow cytometry diagnostic approach to these distinct and sometimes challenging entities and to clarify the immunophenotypic spectrum of neoplastic pDCs in different disease presentations. In this review, we also cover the strategies in the evaluation of residual disease, as well as the challenges and pitfalls we face in the setting of immune and targeted therapy. The differential diagnosis will also be discussed, as blasts in some AML cases can have a pDC-like immunophenotype, mimicking pDCs.
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