Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm: The Dermatologist's Perspective

Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm with Lung Involvement and Cytopenia: A Case Report and a Literature Review

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a hostile cutaneous malignancy with dismal prognosis and unknown etiology with rarity. Most patients received traditional chemotherapy only has one year of median survival time. This article reports an 81-year-old male patient with BPDCN who presented with skin manifestations and was diagnosed with positive CD4, CD56, and CD123 immunohistochemical results. Systematic examination revealed lung involvement and cytopenia.

Clinical Insights into the Management of Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is aggressive hematologic malignancy derived from plasmacytoid dendritic cell precursors of myeloid cell lineage. Patients frequently present with bruise-like skin lesions, which typically are followed months later by progressive cytopenias. Historically, BPDCN prognosis has been dismal, with median overall survival ranging from 9 to 13 months. In the past 2 decades, our understanding of BPDCN pathogenesis has led to the successful development of novel therapeutics. In December 2018, the FDA approved tagraxofusp-erzs for adults and pediatric patients older than 2 years who have either treatment-naïve or relapsed/refractory BPDCN. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)-based chemotherapy regimens also provide comparable outcomes to tagraxofusp. In our practice, for patients with good performance status, we use tagraxofusp, ALL-based chemotherapy regimens, or clinical trials as frontline induction therapy, followed by consolidation with allogeneic stem cell transplant once the first complete response has been achieved. Our induction regimen also includes intrathecal chemotherapy for central nervous system prophylaxis. Patients with poor performance status who are treatment-naïve or patients with relapsed/refractory disease have limited therapeutic options, and we strongly recommend enrollment in clinical trials; several novel agents and combinations are currently under clinical investigation for both treatment-naïve and relapsed/refractory BPDCN.