American journal of clinical pathology
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Aug 2017
Case ReportsLineage Switch Between B-Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Acute Myeloid Leukemia Intermediated by "Occult" Myelodysplastic Neoplasm: Two Cases of Adult Patients With Evidence of Genomic Instability and Clonal Selection by Chemotherapy.
Lineage switch occurs in rare leukemias, and the mechanism is unclear. We report two cases of B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) relapsed as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). ⋯ Lineage switch between B-ALL and AML could be intermediated by occult MDS. A pluripotent progenitor likely undergoes neoplastic transformation, resulting in a genomically unstable clone. This leads to a repertoire of heterogeneous subclones that may be selected by chemotherapy. Lineage switch heralds a dismal clinical outcome.