Co-Incidence or Co-Existence? Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in HbE-alpha Thalassaemia: A Case Report with Review of Literature
XD01-XD02
Correspondence
Dr. Febe Renjitha Suman,
Professor, Department of Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute,
Porur, Chennai-600 116, South India.
E-mail: febemd@gmail.com
Haemoglobin E (HbE) is a Haemoglobin variant that commonly occurs in many places in Asia. As ß thalassaemia and a thalassaemia also occur in the same regions, the co-inheritance of these conditions leads to various phenotypic forms. HbE a thalassaemia is less common and of a milder phenotype than HbE ß thalassaemia. Though malignancies are one of the complications in thalassaemia, occurrence of leukaemia is a rare event. Here we present a case of a two-year-old male child co-presenting with pre B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with MLL rearrangement and HbE alpha thalassaemia. The child is on remission 12 months post-therapy with standard ALL high risk protocol with no minimal residual disease (MRD). Haematological and oncological conditions coexisting at presentation is a challenge to therapy. This case is described for its rarity. Informed consent has been obtained from the parents.