Polish haematologists have stressed the need for regular monitoring of stem cell recipients after having a patient die from cancer acquired from a transplant.
The patient, aged 23, died from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) which developed nine years after a blood stem cell transplant that had successfully treated an original AML, diagnosed when the woman was 12.
Details of the case have been published in Oncotarget. The doctors report that the second disease was not related to the first, but was a new disease driven by several genetic mutations in the ASXL1, SETBP1, and EZH2 genes, indicating a highly aggressive blood cancer. Studies then revealed that these were totally from the donor, whose fate is not known.
The doctors say that some donors may carry mutations that are harmless to them but could trigger cancer in recipients. In addition, factors such as immunosuppressive therapy, bone marrow stress, and transplantation procedures may have contributed to the development of the new cancer in the patient.
Haematologists Drs Aleksandra Mroczkowska-Bękarciak and Tomasz Wrobel, of Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland, state: “This case highlights the need for continued monitoring of transplant recipients, even years after the procedure. Although donor cell-derived haematologic neoplasm is extremely rare, its occurrence raises critical questions about the process by which donor cells transform into leukaemia.”
The case is not the first time a stem cell recipient has develop cancer originating from the donor’s cells. Although it is rare, the researchers write: “Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial to improving patient prognosis. Further studies are needed to better understand the pathogenesis of this condition and develop more effective therapeutic strategies.”
Source:
Mroczkowska-Bękarciak A, Wróbel T. (2025) “A case report of donor cell–derived hematologic neoplasms 9 years after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.” Oncotarget, 5 February 2025, doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.28686.
Link: https://www.oncotarget.com/article/28686/text/
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