Outcome of concurrent acute myeloid leukemia and granulocytic sarcoma: three clinical cases and a review of the literature

Abstract

Granulocytic sarcoma (GS), also known as chloroma or myeloblastoma, is a solid tumor of leukemic myeloblasts and partially matured granulocytes that can form in skin and soft tissue, periosteum, bone, lymph nodes, the gastrointestinal tract, pleura, and other parts of the body. It can develop before or coincidentally with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), especially myelomonocitic or myeloblastic subtypes, chronic myeloproliferative diseases, myelodisplastic syndrome, or acute lymphoblastic leukemia with an incidence of 3–5%. The therapeutic approach of GS has never been formally established. Here, we reported three cases of primary GS and late AML with extensive and aggressive presenting features who were treated with intensive chemotherapy alone, myeloablative unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and autologous plus myeloablative unrelated HSCT hematopoietic allogeneic stem cell transplantation, respectively.