Author:
Popa Delia Codruţa,Şerbănică Andreea,Obrisca Radu,Şerbănică Ionut,Radu Letiţia,Jercan Cristina,Marcu Andra,Bica Ana,Asan Minodora,Petran Mădălina,Dragomir Mihaela,Jardan Cerasela,Ţică Valeria,Gheorghe Anca,Stoian Irina,Coriu Daniel,Coliţă Anca,Coliţă Andrei
Abstract
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most frequent childhood cancer, with 80–85% represented by B cell ALL and only 15% by T cell ALL. T Cell ALL (T-ALL) carries a more reserved prognosis compared to B Cell ALL (B-ALL) with regard to response to treatment, risk of relapse, and overall survival. Progress made in current monitoring protocols such as via flow cytometry immunophenotyping (FCM) and by PCR-based amplification of antigen-receptor genes led to improved management of patients with ALL and superior rates of survival. Nevertheless, challenges remain in some clinical cases. This manuscript describes a unique case of T-ALL and raises awareness of such clinical challenges. The article presents an overview of the flow cytometry immunophenotyping at diagnosis and during treatment of a pediatric patient with T-ALL from Fundeni Clinical Institute. In this case, in spite of various therapeutic measures such as first-line chemotherapy for high risk group, salvage chemotherapy (FLAG), conditioning regimen (FLU-BU-TT-ATG), and stem cell transplant, a chemoresistance clone continued to be present.