Onset of chronic myeloid leukemia with complex karyotype in a pregnant patient: case report and revision of literature

Approximately 10%–12% of patients in chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CP-CML) have additional chromosomal aberrations at diagnosis; moreover, CML occurs in up to 10% of pregnancy-associated leukemias, with an annual incidence of 1 per 100,000 pregnancies. In this report we describe the case of a 36-year-old female with CP-CML diagnosed in the 18th week of pregnancy and with a new complex variant translocation t(4;9;22;21)(q24;q34;q11;q22) and an additional chromosomal aberration t(1;20)(p36;p11). In consideration of her pregnancy, the patient strictly monitored her blood cell count without any specific treatment. At 32 weeks of pregnancy, the patient delivered via cesarean section a healthy baby girl. After 10 days from childbirth, dasatinib was started at a standard dosage of 100 mg/day and 3 months later complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response were obtained, with the achievement of an optimal response according to European Leukemia Net recommendations and showing efficacy of this tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) in the presence of a complex karyotype.