Open AccessComplete remission of a relapsing adult T cell leukaemia following treatment of a secondary acute promyelocytic leukaemia: towards a reappraisal of arsenic trioxide and all-transretinoic acid?
Author(s) -
Marie-Olivia Chandesris,
David Gourichon,
Caroline Besson,
Felipe Suárez,
Richard Delarue,
MarieThérèse Rubio,
Ali Bazarbachi,
Bruno Varet,
Olivier Hermine
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr.01.2009.1449
Subject(s) - arsenic trioxide , medicine , acute promyelocytic leukemia , cytarabine , leukemia , lymphoma , disease , oncology , immunology , arsenic , retinoic acid , cell culture , biology , materials science , metallurgy , genetics
Despite improvements in therapeutic options, human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-related adult T cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) has a dismal prognosis. The present report concerns the case of a multirelapsing ATLL that reached a complete remission following the treatment of a secondary acute promyelocytic leukaemia with cytarabine, anthracyclin, all-transretinoic acid and arsenic trioxide. This unexpected result with a multitreated/chemorefractory disease led us to reconsider the potential therapeutic benefits of arsenic trioxide, which has demonstrated efficacy against ATLL cells.