Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia in a Child With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Novel Case and Brief Review of the Literature.

Abstract

We present the first documented case of acute myeloid leukemia in a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The patient also had a second degree relative that was an obligate carrier of DMD, who died of acute myeloid leukemia as an infant, meeting the criteria of hereditary hematologic malignancy syndrome. We discuss the challenges of managing cancer in the setting of DMD. We briefly review the literature investigating the possible role of dystrophin in carcinogenesis. Lastly, we discuss the possible etiologies of this patient's malignancy being from carcinogenic properties of dystrophin, a cancer-predisposing germline mutation within the family lineage, or genetically unrelated events. This adds to the list of reports of various malignancies in patients with DMD.