Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Follow-up

  • Author: Sandy D Kotiah, MD; Chief Editor: Emmanuel C Besa, MD   more...
 
Updated: Aug 2, 2011
 

Further Inpatient Care

Inpatient care for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) should be focused on transfusion support for anemia, coagulopathy, and thrombocytopenia; treatment of infections; and monitoring for retinoic acid syndrome. Patients should also be monitored for tumor lysis syndrome when appropriate during the induction phase of treatment.

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Further Outpatient Care

Outpatient care should include transfusion support and frequent blood monitoring during the consolidation and maintenance phases of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) therapy.

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Inpatient & Outpatient Medications

ATRA should be prescribed on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. Patients should also be on prophylactic antifungal and antiviral medications during treatment, as these individuals have altered lymphocyte function. This is caused by the underlying leukemia and by cytotoxic therapy.

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Deterrence/Prevention

There has been no risk factor associated with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), except previous treatment with cytotoxic agents or radiotherapy. Secondary APL accounts for 10-20% of cases. It is still unclear if there is certain environmental or occupational exposure that predisposes susceptible individuals to acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

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Complications

The most important complications of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) are bleeding diathesis (5%) secondary to underlying coagulopathy, infection (2.3%), and retinoic acid syndrome (1.4%).[14] The coagulopathy should be monitored closely to prevent early mortality. Infection can occur at any time and should be treated promptly with antibiotics. Retinoid acid syndrome should be treated with IV steroids to prevent treatment-related mortality.

A long-term observational study (n=1,025) of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in first complete remission were analyzed for therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MNs). Therapy for APL consisted of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) plus anthracycline chemotherapy. Although a rare incidence was observed for t-MN, it is a severe complication and further research is needed to determine how to decrease its frequency following ATRA plus anthracycline-based therapy.[29]

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Prognosis

Unlike most leukemias, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has a very good prognosis with a 70% cure rate. However, since the early 1990s, there have been reports of extramedullary relapse to the skin and CNS with APL that are associated with a poor prognosis.

A retrospective review showed that expression of CD56 (in >20% of promyelocytes) correlates with a higher risk of extramedullary relapse and high WBC counts.[30]

An additional retrospective analysis examined the outcome of 155 patients with the microgranular variant who were treated with all-trans-retinoic acid-based therapy in 3 clinical trials. The analysis revealed no difference in incidence of complications, survival, and response compared with patients who had classical M3 morphology.[31]

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Patient Education

Patients should visit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Webpage for further information at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.leukemia-lymphoma.org). For information on clinical trials, please visit the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Website at www.cancer.gov.

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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Sandy D Kotiah, MD  Fellow in Hematology Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Emmanuel C Besa, MD  Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Kimmel Cancer Center, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University

Emmanuel C Besa, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for Cancer Education, American College of Clinical Pharmacology, American Federation for Medical Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, and New York Academy of Sciences

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Clarence Sarkodee-Adoo, MD  Consulting Staff, Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation, City of Hope Samaritan BMT Program

Disclosure: Takeda Millenium Honoraria Speaking and teaching

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Ronald A Sacher, MB, BCh, MD, FRCPC  Professor, Internal Medicine and Pathology, Director, Hoxworth Blood Center, University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center

Ronald A Sacher, MB, BCh, MD, FRCPC is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association of Blood Banks, American Clinical and Climatological Association, American Society for Clinical Pathology, American Society of Hematology, College of American Pathologists, International Society of Blood Transfusion, International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Disclosure: Glaxo Smith Kline Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Talecris Honoraria Board membership

Rajalaxmi McKenna, MD, FACP  Southwest Medical Consultants, SC, Department of Medicine, Good Samaritan Hospital, Advocate Health Systems

Rajalaxmi McKenna, MD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, and International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Emmanuel C Besa, MD  Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Kimmel Cancer Center, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University

Emmanuel C Besa, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for Cancer Education, American College of Clinical Pharmacology, American Federation for Medical Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, and New York Academy of Sciences

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Emmanuel Besa for allowing me the opportunity to write this article.

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Bone marrow aspirate hybridized with the RARA dual color break-apart probe set (Abbott-Vysis). The cell to the left shows a normal cell with 2 fusion signals, as the 5'RARA probe (orange) and the 3'RARA probe (green) are not separated. The cell on the right shows split signals for one RARA gene, indicating a chromosomal rearrangement disrupting the RARA gene. Image courtesy of Dr. Tina Edmonston from the Department of Pathology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Bone marrow aspirate hybridized with PML/RARA dual color translocation probe set (Abbott-Vysis). The cell to the right shows a normal cell with 2 separate PML (orange) and RARA (green) signals each. The cell to the left shows an abnormal cell characterized by a single fusion signal juxtaposing the PML and RARA signals, suggestive of a translocation of the 2 genes. Images courtesy of Dr. Tina Edmonston from the Department of Pathology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Hypogranular subtype of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Image courtesy of Dr. William Kocher.
Regularly hypergranular subtype of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Image courtesy of Dr. William Kocher.
 
 
 
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