Molecular Genetic Analysis With Flow Cytometry Sorting Identifies Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma and Concomitant De Novo Myelodysplastic Syndrome Arising From the Same Hematopoietic Progenitor

A 75-year-old man with no prior history of cytotoxic therapy presented with increasing fatigue and shortness of breath. He was found to have a new onset of pancytopenia, and chest X-ray showed severe pneumonia. Additional radiology exam revealed pan-lobar pneumonia, pleural effusion, generalized lymphadenopathy and mild splenomegaly. Bone marrow and mediastinal lymph node biopsy from the bilateral level 4 lymph nodes were performed to evaluate the cause of pancytopenia and generalized lymphadenopathy, respectively. Histologic sections of lymph nodes were consistent with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), and bone marrow biopsy showed low level involvement by AITL. Background trilineage hematopoiesis showed features suggestive of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with karyotyping showing deletion 20q; however, interpretation of dysplasia and exclusion of reactive process was difficult due to the presence of severe infection, administration of multiple medications and multiorgan failure. Therefore, to further evaluate the possibility of concomitant myeloid neoplasm, we performed flow cytometry sorting of bone marrow aspirate to isolate the myeloid cell population from the abnormal T-cell population, and comprehensive genomic profiling was performed in each population separately. Flow-sorted myeloid population showed three somatic mutations involving DNMT3A and BCORL1, supporting the diagnosis of MDS in conjunction with the presence of deletion 20q. Flow sorted abnormal T-cell population showed six somatic mutations consistent with AITL, involving Ras homolog gene family member A (RHOA), TET2, DNMT3A, NOTCH2 and XPO1. These two sorted populations shared the DNMT3A p.N612Rfs*26 mutation, and the variants unique to one sorted population were confirmed to be completely absent in another sorted population by manual review of the sample. These findings suggested that the two neoplasms were clonally related and were sharing a common hematopoietic progenitor precursor, but underwent clonal divergence over time, leading to the development of two distinct neoplastic processes of T and myeloid lineages. This illustrates a rare case of concurrent diagnosis of AITL and de novo MDS and reliable genomic assessment was performed at the time of diagnosis to detect mutations in each neoplastic process without contamination. Further studies are needed to assess hypomethylating agents as potential therapy options for these patients.