Tumor-forming plasmacytoid dendritic cells in acute myelocytic leukemia: a report of three cases and literature review

Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2017 Jul 1;10(7):7285-7291. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs), through their production of type I interferons (IFNs) and other pro-inflammatory cytokines, link the innate and adaptive immunity, and provide anti-viral resistance. It is reported PDCs accumulated in inflammatory and human neoplasms, including hematopoietic malignancies. To date, the clinical significance of tumor-forming PDCs (TF-PDCs) in AML is largely unknown. Here, we designed an integral scheme using flow cytometry, by which we accurately have detected the TF-PDCs in cases of AML. Combined the case characters and progress, we suggested that: TF-PDCs in AML maybe originate from the bone marrow mononuclear precursor cells, so it often associated with mononuclear line-related myeloid tumors; the accumulation of PDCs indicated highly aggressive tumor with poor progress and probably potential myelodysplasia or dysplasia.

Keywords: Plasmacytoid dendritic cell (PDC); acute myeloid leukemia (AML); flow cytometry (FCM); tumor-forming plasmacytoid dendritic cell (TF-PDC).

Publication types

  • Review