Pediatric aleukemic leukemia cutis: Report of 3 cases and review of the literature

Leukemia cutis (LC) denotes a cutaneous infiltration of neoplastic myeloid cells or lymphoid blasts, which can present in the setting of acute myeloid leukemia, particularly in those cases with monocytic or myelomonocytic differentiation. Rarely, cutaneous involvement by a leukemic infiltrate can occur in the absence of bone marrow or peripheral blood involvement by acute leukemia; this then is referred to as aleukemic LC (ALC). Recognition of LC is important for further classification and early diagnosis of the disease, but the diagnosis is difficult in the absence of a systemic presentation of acute leukemia. Although the molecular and cytogenetic features of ALC are poorly characterized, some have shown specific molecular alterations in common with classic forms of acute leukemias. We present 3 cases of ALC in pediatric patients.