Although rarely, switches between lymphoid and myeloid lineages may occur during treatment of acute leukemias (AL). Correct diagnosis relies upon confirmation by immunophenotyping of the lineage conversion and certification that the same cytogenetic/molecular alterations remain despite the phenotypic changes. From a total of 1,482 AL pediatric patients, we report nine cases of lineage conversion (0.6%), seven from lymphoid (four Pro-B, two Pre-B, one Common) to myelo-monocytic, and two from myeloid (bilineal, with myeloid predominance) to Pro-B. Eight patients were infants. Switches were suggested by morphology and confirmed with a median of 15 days (range: 8 days-6 months) from initiation of therapy. Of note, in five cases switches occurred before day 15. Stability of the clonal abnormalities was assessed by cytogenetic, RT-PCR/Ig-TCR rearrangement studies in all patients. Abnormalities in 11q23/MLL gene were detected in seven cases. Treatment schedules were ALL (two pts), Interfant-99 (five pts) and AML (two pts) protocols. Despite changing chemotherapy according to the new lineage, all patients died. Our findings support the association of lineage switches with MLL gene alterations and the involvement of a common lymphoid B-myeloid precursor. New therapies should be designed to address these rare cases. Possible mechanisms implicated are discussed. Am. J. Hematol. 87:890-897, 2012. V

We used patch-clamp methods to investigate the effects of basolateral endothelin-1 (ET-1) on the amiloride-sensitive Na+ channel in A6 distal nephron cells. One hundred picomolar ET-1 decreased channel activity via an increase in mean time closed (P < 0.01, n = 10). Channel inhibition by pM ET-1 was mimicked by an ET-B receptor agonist (P < 0.05, n = 7) and was prevented by ET-B antagonists (P = 0.14, n = 10) but not by an ET-A antagonist (P < 0.05, n = 4). With the inhibitory ET-B receptor blocked, higher doses of ET-1 (10 nM) actually increased channel activity through an increase in mean time open (P < 0.001, n = 12). The current-voltage relationship and the number of channels were not changed by basolateral ET-1 exposure. We conclude that 1) basolateral ET-1 regulates amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels; 2) binding of picomolar ET-1 to ET-B receptors inhibits, whereas the binding of nanomolar ET-1 to a different ET receptor (likely ET-A) stimulates, channel activity; and 3) these dose-dependent, distal nephron responses provide a potential mechanism for the in vivo natriuresis and antinatriuresis observed in response to "subpressor" and "pressor" concentrations of ET-1, respectively.

Historically, t(1;19)(q23;p13.3) has been related to pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and associated with a poor prognosis. Current treatments have overcome this dismal outcome, but advantages in survival for the unbalanced group have been reported. We compared the outcome of balanced and unbalanced der(19)t(1;19) cases and also patients with t(1;19)/TCF3-PBX1 versus patients without this translocation, to assess its prognostic value. From January 1990 to December 2010, t(1;19)(q23;p13)/TCF3-PBX1 was detected in 48 cases. Patients were treated with Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (BFM)-based protocols and classified into balanced (n = 17) and unbalanced (n = 23) groups. The probability of event-free survival (pEFS) (standard error) of patients with t(1;19)/TCF3-PBX1 was 85% (6%), for the unbalanced group 78% (10%), and 88% (8%) for the balanced. The pEFS of patients with t(1;19)/TCF3-PBX1 was significantly superior to that of patients without t(1;19)/TCF3-PBX1 (p-value <0.0001). Patients with t(1;19)/TCF3-PBX1 presented a good outcome with no differences between balanced and unbalanced subgroups. Thus, risk-adjustment therapy would not be necessary for cases with t(1;19)/TCF3-PBX1.

CD4+ CD56+ malignancies have only recently been related to dendritic cell (DC) lineage. The few cases described, mostly adults and elderly, typically present with cutaneous lesions, followed by disseminated tumor localizations within a few months, with a generally very aggressive course and fatal outcome, despite the different therapeutic approaches employing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Considering that leukemias in childhood and in adults are different diseases, we describe three pediatric cases to help compare the biological characteristics, immunophenotype, clinical features, treatment response and incidence of this disease in both age groups. From a total 1363 new patients with acute leukemia (AL), we report three cases with blasts of French - American - British L2 morphology, an absence of the most specific markers for myeloid, T or B lineage and lacking CD34, which led us to evaluate the blasts with an extensive panel of antibodies, including those related to the other putative pathways of lymphoid differentation: natural killer and DC. The cells expressed CD4, CD56, HLA-DR, BDCA-2 and BDCA-4. None of our cases presented with skin involvement. All three children showed good response to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) protocols, achieving complete remission even when one of the patients relapsed and received an allogeneic transplant. These findings, in spite of the small number of patients, suggest that the clinical course in children might be less aggressive, and that regular ALL protocols would be effective. We emphasize the importance of including antibodies for DC lineage in cases of CD34(-) unclassifiable AL to further characterize these rare cases (0.22%), considering that the tumor cell affiliation to DC lineage relies exclusively on immunophenotypic criteria.

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