Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Sep 24, 2024; 15(9): 1207-1214
Published online Sep 24, 2024. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i9.1207
Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: Two case reports
Yi-Qian Ma, Zhan Sun, Yu-Mei Li, Hui Xu
Yi-Qian Ma, Zhan Sun, Yu-Mei Li, Hui Xu, Department of Dermatology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212000, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Xu H, Li YM designed the research and supervised the paper; Xu H, Li YM, Ma YQ and Sun Z performed the research; Ma YQ and Sun Z analyzed the data; Xu H, Ma YQ and Sun Z wrote the paper; Xu H provided case information; All the authors contributed to the revision.
Supported by The National Key Research and Development Programs of China, No. 2022YFC2603801; Maternal and Child Health Project of Jiangsu Province, No. F201717; Doctor Project of Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, No. jdfyrc2019003; and Clinical and Virology Study of 2019-ncov Infection in Patients with Moderate to Severe Psoriasis, No. Jdfyxgzx005.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui Xu, PhD, Professor, Department of Dermatology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, No. 438 Jiefang Road, Zhenjiang 212000, Jiangsu Province, China. xuhuiraian@sina.com
Received: October 24, 2023
Revised: February 7, 2024
Accepted: June 3, 2024
Published online: September 24, 2024
Processing time: 309 Days and 20.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell tumor (BPDCN) is a rare and highly invasive lymphohematopoietic tumor that originates from plasmacytoid dendritic cells. BPDCN has an extremely poor prognosis. Skin lesions are usually the first manifestation of BPDCN, although the tumor may also invade the bone marrow, lymph nodes, peripheral blood, and other parts of the body, leading to several other manifestations, requiring further differentiation through skin biopsy and immunohistochemistry.

CASE SUMMARY

In the present paper, the cases of 2 patients diagnosed with BPDCN are discussed. The immunohistochemistry analysis of these 2 patients revealed positivity for CD4, CD56, and CD123. Currently, no standard chemotherapy regimen is available for BPDCN. Therefore, intensive therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia was applied as the treatment method for these 2 cases.

CONCLUSION

Although allogeneic bone marrow transplantation could be further effective in prolonging the median survival the ultimate prognosis was unfavorable. Future treatment modalities tailored for elderly patients will help prolong survival.

Keywords: Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm; Skin; CD4; CD56; CD123; Venetoclax; Case report

Core Tip: This article reported on 2 cases of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell tumor (BPDCN) patients diagnosed and treated in our hospital, describing clinical manifestations, laboratory examination, and treatment process. A summarization of the current literature, combined with the experience of these 2 patients, allowed for our reasoned overall conclusions. Based on the 2-patient experience, BPDCN as a hematologic malignancy has a very poor prognosis. Treatment with acute lymphoblastic leukemia chemotherapy is effective in some way. Venetoclax, a BCL-2 inhibitor, can partially subside skin lesions. Unless stem cell transplantation is used, there is no significant improvement in overall survival time.