Acute Hepatitis A Induction of Precursor B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia:A Causal Relationship

• Main Authors: V. Senadhi, D. Emuron, R. Gupta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2010-12-01
• Series: Case Reports in Oncology
• Subjects: Acute hepatitis A; Precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Epstein-Barr virus; Adult-onset ALL; Hepatitis A-induced aplastic anemia
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/323487

Background: Precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia accounts for 2% of all lymphoid neoplasms in the United States and occurs most frequently in childhood, but can also occur in adults with a median age of 39 years. It is more commonly seen in males and in Caucasians. Case Report: We present a case of a 51-year-old Caucasian female with the development of precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after suffering acute hepatitis A 4 weeks prior to her diagnosis. She presented with malaise for a month without spontaneous bruising/bleeding, infections, or B-symptoms, such as fevers, night sweats, or unintentional weight loss. Conclusion: Nonspecific viral transformation of bone marrow has been discussed in the literature, but we specifically describe hepatitis A-induced adult-onset precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is the first reported case in the literature.