Polycythemia vera in a child with acute lymphocytic 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 whtn 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.
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary; D011087:Polycythemia Vera / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents