Aggressive Natural Killer Cell Leukemia in an Adolescent Patient: A Case Report and Literature Review

Rong Yang; Yuan Ai; Chuan Liu; Xiaoxi Lu

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.829927

Aggressive Natural Killer Cell Leukemia in an Adolescent Patient: A Case Report and Literature Review

Front Pediatr. 2022 May 23:10:829927. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.829927. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Rong Yang^{1

2}, Yuan Ai^{1

2}, Chuan Liu^{1

3}, Xiaoxi Lu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
³ Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Aggressive natural killer cell leukemia (ANKL) is a rare malignant tumor, especially uncommon in children. ANKL has very aggressive clinical course and bad prognosis and is usually caused by Epstein-Barr virus infection. ANKL often has clinical manifestations of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and can be easily treated as HLH, which might complicate this aggressive disease. Here we report an ANKL in adolescent whose clinical presentation was highly aggressive and response to L-asparaginase containing chemotherapy was very bad. Early-onset Flow cytometry of peripheral blood and bone marrow help make the diagnosis.

Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus; aggressive natural killer cell leukemia; case report; children; hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Publication types

Case Reports