Acute lymphoid leukemia developing in the course of Crohn's Disease: Are there any guilty agents?

Abstract

Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha drugs (anti-TNF-α), which are monoclonal antibodies, have revolutionized the treatment of severe and refractory inflammatory bowel disease in the last two decades. However, these drugs pose a risk for the formation of hematological malignancies such as lymphoma and acute leukemia. To our knowledge, acute lymphoblastic leukemia has been reported in the literature in only two Crohn's patients with a history of anti-TNF-α therapy. In this article, we reported a case of Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoid leukemia occurring during the course of disease with a history of azathioprine and anti-TNF-α treatment with the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. In addition, we wanted to emphasize that the patient was followed up in remission for five years after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation although he did not receive treatment for Crohn's disease.

Keywords

• Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha drugs