Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a 2-year-old girl whose mother was previously diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report

• Published in: BMC research notes 2015-04, Vol.8 (1), p.148-148, Article 148
• Main Authors: Castro-Jiménez, Miguel Ángel, Cortés-Sánchez, Carlos Efraín, Rueda-Arenas, Ernesto, Tibaduiza-Buitrago, Lucy Adela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute lymphocytic leukemia; Analysis; Anticoagulants (Medicine); Anticoagulants - therapeutic use; Antiphospholipid syndrome; Antiphospholipid Syndrome - diagnosis; Antiphospholipid Syndrome - pathology; Antiphospholipid Syndrome - therapy; Cancer; Care and treatment; Case Report; Child, Preschool; Clinical Studies as Topic; Complications and side effects; Female; Health aspects; Heparin - therapeutic use; Humans; Ionizing radiation; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Mothers; Oncology, Experimental; Parenting; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - diagnosis; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - etiology; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma - pathology; Pregnancy; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 1756-0500; 1756-0500
• DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1104-1

The role of maternal exposures and conditions in the origin of childhood cancer has been a subject of growing interest, but current evidence is inconclusive. We present a case detected in a multicenter case-control study evaluating the association between parental risk factors and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The patient is a Colombian girl who was diagnosed with ALL-L1 when she was 2 years old. Her mother had been diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome before pregnancy and had also been treated with subcutaneous injections of heparin. Other potentially relevant maternal and patient exposures are also reported in this paper. We hypothesize that the maternal autoimmune disease could be a contributor in the causality network of the daughter's leukemia. However, the role of other exposures cannot be excluded.