Disease overview
Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by stem cell-derived clonal myeloproliferation, abnormal cytokine expression, bone marrow fibrosis, anemia, splenomegaly, extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH), constitutional symptoms, cachexia, leukemic progression, and shortened survival.

Diagnosis
Diagnosis is based on bone marrow morphology. The presence of fibrosis, JAK2/MPL mutation, or +9/13q− cytogenetic abnormality is supportive but not essential for diagnosis. Prefibrotic PMF mimics essential thrombocythemia in its presentation and the distinction is prognostically relevant. Differential diagnosis of myelofibrosis should include chronic myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and acute myeloid leukemia.

Risk stratification
The Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System-plus (DIPSS-plus) prognostic model for PMF can be applied at any point during the disease course and uses eight independent predictors of inferior survival: age >65 years, hemoglobin 25 × 109/L, circulating blasts ≥1%, constitutional symptoms, red cell transfusion dependency, platelet count 80% two-year mortality is predicted by monosomal karyotype, inv(3)/i(17q) abnormalities, or any two of circulating blasts >9%, leukocytes ≥40 × 109/L or other unfavorable karyotype. Most recently, mutations involving ASXL1, SRSF2, EZH2, and IDH1/2 or increased plasma IL-2R, IL-8, or serum-free light chain levels have been shown to adversely affect survival.

Risk-adapted therapy
Observation alone is adequate for asymptomatic low/intermediate-1 risk disease. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is often considered for high risk disease. Conventional or experimental drug therapy is reasonable for symptomatic intermediate-1 or intermediate-2 risk disease; however, ASCT is an acceptable treatment option for such patients in the presence of ASXL1 or other prognostically adverse mutations. Splenectomy and low-dose radiotherapy are used for drug-refractory splenomegaly. Radiotherapy is also used for the treatment of non-hepatosplenic EMH, PMF-associated pulmonary hypertension, and extremity bone pain. Am. J. Hematol. 88:141–150, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajh.23384

Primary myelofibrosis: 2013 update on diagnosis, risk-stratification, and management

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare haematological malignancy characterized by the clonal proliferation of immature or precursors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC), also known as professional type I interferon producing cells.1 This neoplasm was originally recognized in 19942 and the uncertainty regarding its histogenesis was reflected by the several changes of name, that included agranular CD4+ natural killer cell leukemia,3 blastic natural killer leukemia/lymphoma,4 agranular CD4+CD56+ hematodermic neoplasm5 or tumor.6 In 2001 the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue coined the term blastic NKcell lymphoma on the basis of the blastic cytology, and the expression of CD56 in the absence of other lineage specific markers. A relationship to plasmacytoid dendritic cells was hypothesized first by Lucio et al. in 19997 and subsequently confirmed by several studies.5,8-13 The term blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm was introduced in 2008 by the updated WHO classification (4th edition).14 The clinical hallmarks of BPDCN are predominant cutaneous involvement, with subsequent or simultaneous extension to bone marrow and peripheral blood. Systemic dissemination and short survival are characteristic. Morphologically tumor cells show an immature “blastic” appearance; the diagnosis rests upon the demonstration of CD4 and CD56, together with markers more restricted to PDC (such as BDCA-2, CD123, TCL1, CD2AP and BCL11a) and negativity for lymphoid, NK and myeloid lineage- associated antigens.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a myeloid neoplasm characterized by dysplasia, abnormal production and accumulation of monocytic cells and an elevated risk of transforming into acute leukemia. Over the past two decades, our knowledge about the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms in CMML has increased substantially. In parallel, better diagnostic criteria and therapeutic strategies have been developed. However, many questions remain regarding prognostication and optimal therapy. In addition, there is a need to define potential pre-phases of CMML and special CMML variants, and to separate these entities from each other and from conditions mimicking CMML. To address these unmet needs, an international consensus group met in a Working Conference in August 2018 and discussed open questions and issues around CMML, its variants, and pre-CMML conditions. The outcomes of this meeting are summarized herein and include diag nostic criteria and a proposed classification of pre-CMML conditions as well as refined minimal diagnostic criteria for classical CMML and special CMML variants, including oligomonocytic CMML and CMML associated with systemic mastocytosis. Moreover, we propose diagnostic standards and tools to distinguish between ‘normal’, pre-CMML and CMML entities. These criteria and standards should facilitate diagnostic and prognostic evaluations in daily practice and clinical studies in applied hematology.

/pdf/proposed-diagnostic-criteria-for-classical-chronic-375jxn7swa.pdf

Proposed diagnostic criteria for classical chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), CMML variants and pre-CMML conditions

Neoplasms derived from plasmacytoid dendritic cells

In spite of the impressive advances in the area of molecular pathology, bone marrow morphology remains the diagnosis cornerstone to identify the various subtypes of myeloid neoplasms. Morphological examination of the bone marrow requires both bone marrow aspirate and bone marrow trephine biopsy. Immunohistochemistry of bone marrow biopsy with markers reactive in paraffin-embedded tissues represents a powerful diagnostic tool; its results can be easily correlated with those obtained by other techniques such as flow cytometry and genetic analysis, and above all, the clinical findings. The role of the bone marrow biopsy will be particularly stressed in this review article. Particular emphasis is being given to the correct identification of cases of myeloid neoplasms associated with myelofibrosis and for which the bone marrow biopsy represents the only available diagnostic mean. Moreover, the often low cellular yield of the bone marrow aspirate in these cases may also be insufficient to obtain adequate cytogenetic information. Such cases include two subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia which typically cause diagnostic difficulties: acute megakaryoblastic leukemia and acute panmyelosis with myelofibrosis (acute myelosclerosis). Acute myeloid leukemia with multilineage dysplasia, therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome/therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia and de novo myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) will also be discussed. The value of bone marrow biopsy in this group of disorders is generally well established. In MDS, in particular, bone marrow biopsy may help in confirming a suspected diagnosis by excluding reactive conditions in which dyshematopoietic changes may also be observed. It can increase the diagnostic accuracy and helps in refining the IPPS risk evaluation system. Among the alterations detected by bone marrow biopsy, a prognostically important finding is the presence of aggregates or clusters of immature myeloid precursor cells (myeloblasts and promyelocytes). These can also be identified by immunohistochemistry with CD34, an antigen expressed in progenitor and early precursor marrow cells, which can be used to demonstrate pathological accumulations of blasts in aggressive subtypes of myeloid neoplasms. Immunohistologic analysis is especially helpful in cases of MDS with fibrosis and cases with hypocellular marrows (hypoplastic MDS). In both of these variants, the presence of reticulin fibrosis or fatty changes in the bone marrow can make accurate disease characterization very difficult or impossible using bone marrow aspirates. Finally, the important group of the myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disorders can only be accurately categorized by a careful multiparametric approach in which the bone marrow biopsy exerts a pivotal role.

/pdf/histopathology-in-the-diagnosis-and-classification-of-acute-1yj367fvyn.pdf

Histopathology in the diagnosis and classification of acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases.


 
 
 Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive tumor of skeletal muscle differentiation that predominantly affects adolescents and young adults, and is rare over 45 years of age. It has poor prognosis with metastasis, and most commonly spreads to the lymph nodes, bone marrow, and lungs. In this report, we describe a middle-aged patient with a primary sinonasal alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma which metastasized to the right testicle, an unusual metastatic site reported only a few times in literature.
 
 
 
 Our patient is a 53 year old male who presented in 2020 with recurrent epistaxis and bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy over a 2 month period. Maxillofacial CT/MRI imaging revealed a 4-cm sized mass within the left nasal cavity eroding into the ethmoid sinuses. The patient underwent endoscopic sinus surgery of the sinonasal mass, which on histology, appeared as poorly differentiated small round blue cells with numerous mitoses infiltrating as single cells and nests. These cells stained positive for vimentin, myogenin, desmin, and CD56, and negative for AE1/AE3, chromogranin, S-100, CD99, and CD45. The cells showed very high Ki67 proliferation index (70-80%) and tested positive for FOXO1 gene rearrangement, which supported the diagnosis of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. The patient completed chemoradiation therapy, and MRI scans over the next 2 years were negative for residual sinonasal tumor. However, the patient returned in 2022 after having undergone a right orchiectomy at an outside hospital for testicular pain, and abdominal CT showed diffuse retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy concerning for metastasis. On histology, the resected testicle showed seminiferous tubules infiltrated and destroyed by sheets of poorly differentiated small round blue cells with fibrous septae separating the nests of tumor cells into alveolar-like spaces with central loss of cohesion. The tumor cells showed the same immunohistochemical staining pattern as the primary sinonasal lesion, thus confirming it to be metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.
 
 
 
 NA.
 
 
 
 It is unusual for alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas to occur in adults over 45 years old, and is even rarer for these tumors to metastasize to the testicle. Metastases also only account for 1% of testicular tumors. Our report documents a very rare case of an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in a middle-aged adult which metastasized to the testicle after chemoradiation therapy.


Metastasis of a Primary Sinonasal Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma to the Testicle in an Adult Patient

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia: The role of bone marrow biopsy immunohistology.

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Metastasis of a Primary Sinonasal Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma to the Testicle in an Adult Patient

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia: The role of bone marrow biopsy immunohistology.