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Polycythemia vera in a child with acute lymphocytic leukemia
Author(s) -
Hann HieWon L.,
Festa Robert S.,
Rosenstock Jeffrey G.,
Cifuentes Elfrid
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197905)43:5<1862::aid-cncr2820430540>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - medicine , polycythemia vera , leukemia , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , chronic myelogenous leukemia , acute lymphocytic leukemia , acute leukemia , immunology , lymphoblastic leukemia
A 10‐year‐old boy, who had been in an uninterrupted remission of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) for six years, developed polycythemia vera (PV). One and a half months after detection of PV, he was found to have active leukemia. Both the polycythemia and leukemia receded with anti‐leukemia therapy. Three possible explanations for the development of PV in a child with ALL are discussed: 1) PV was a part of his original ALL and recurred when patient relapsed. The PV phase was detected only during relapse because the patient was under close observation. 2) PV was a second neoplasm independent of ALL. 3) PV was part of a second leukemia which was different from the original leukemia; this new ALL was derived from a pluripotential cell line involving both erythroid and lymphoid elements. A precedent for this explanation has been observed in chronic myelogenous leukemia.