title: Long-term colchicine therapy in a patient with Behçet's disease and acute promyelocytic leukemia.
abstract: Behçet's disease causes a continuous T-lymphocytic mediated inflammatory reaction in the small arterioles, which results in gradual destruction of any human organ or system. The benefit of treatment with colchicine in patients with Behçet's disease has been reported in literature. Acute leukemia has seldom been associated with Behçet's disease, although acute promyelocytic leukemia is a particular subtype of leukemia that is often characterized by special cytogenetic abnormalities. We report a male patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia and Behçet's disease who had received long-term treatment with colchicine. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the concomitant occurrence of acute promyelocytic leukemia and Behçet's disease, which suggests that long-term colchicine therapy has a role in the pathogenesis of acute promyelocytic leukemia. The patient described has been treated with retinoic acid and idarubicin (the ATRA-IDA protocol). At the time of this writing, his disease is in clinical remission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, 06490 Ankara, Turkey. hakanozdogu@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozdogu
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boga
authors.forename: Zerrin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Feride Iffet
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Nebil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003078:Colchicine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006074:Gout Suppressants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D012074:Remission Induction
chemical_list: D006074:Gout Suppressants; D003078:Colchicine