Case ReportMast Cell Leukemia: Review of a Rare Disease and Case Report of Prolonged Survival after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant

Mast cell leukemia is a rare and aggressive form of mastocytosis characterized by > 20% mast cells found in the bone marrow aspirates of patients with signs of systemic mastocytosis-related organ damage. The prognosis for patients with mast cell leukemia is extremely poor, with resistance to both cytoreductive therapies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors being relatively common. While allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been associated with long-term survival in patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis, reports regarding its effectiveness in mast cell leukemia are limited to fewer than 20 cases described in the literature. Here, we report a patient with mast cell leukemia who remains in complete remission 24 months after allogeneic HSCT at the time of this writing, and briefly review the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches to this rare disease.