Publication at Second Faculty of Medicine |
2016
Abstract
Mixed phenotype acute leukemias (MPALs) are a rare subset of acute leukemias that cannot be unambiguously assigned to a single hematopoietic lineage because of the significant expression of antigens from additional lineages. This subset comprises several entities, including biphenotypic leukemias, in which leukemic blasts co-express markers of two lineages, and bilineal leukemias (BLLs), which demonstrate 2 immunophenotypically distinct populations, each belonging to a different lineage.
These 2 entities may overlap significantly. How to properly treat MPALs is still an undecided question that can be addressed by combining international clinical experience with biological knowledge.