chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), polycythemia vera, essential thrombocytosis, or myelofibrosis). The detection of a chloroma is considered de facto evidence these premalignant conditions have transformed into an acute leukemia requiring appropriate treatment. For example, presence of a chloroma is sufficient to indicate chronic myelogenous leukemia has entered its blast crisis phase. In Eosinophilic leukemia
At least one case of FIP1L1-PDGFRA fusion gene-induced eosinophilic leukemia presenting with myeloid sarcoma and eosinophilia has been reported. This form of myeloid sarcoma is distinguished by its highly successful treatment with imatinib (the recommended treatment for FIP1L1-PDGRGA fusion gene-induced eosinophilic leukemia) rather than more aggressive and toxic therapy. Primary chloroma
Very rarely, chloroma can occur without a known pre-existing or concomitant diagnosis of acute leukemia, acute promyelocytic leukemia or MDS/MPS; this is known as primary chloroma. Diagnosis is particularly challenging in this situation (see below). In almost all reported cases of primary chloroma, acute leukemia has developed shortly afterward (median time to development of acute leukemia 7 months, range 1–25 months). Therefore, primary chloroma could be considered an initial manifestation of acute leukemia, rather than a localized process, and could be treated as such. Where disease development or markers indicate progresses to acute promyleocytic leukemia (AML3) treatment should be tailored to this form of disease. Location and symptoms
Chloromas may occur in virtually any organ or tissue. The most common areas of involvement are the skin (also known as leukemia cutis) and the gums.
Skin involvement typically appears as violaceous, raised, nontender plaques or nodules, which on biopsy are found to be infiltrated with myeloblasts Note that leukemia cutis differs from Sweets syndrome, in which the skin is infiltrated by mature neutrophils in a paraneoplastic process. Gum involvement (gingival hypertrophy) leads to swollen, sometimes painful gums which bleed easily with tooth brushing and other minor trauma. Other tissues which can be involved include lymph nodes, the small intestine, the mediastinum, the lung, epidural sites, the uterus, the ovaries, and the orbit of the eye. Symptoms of chloroma at these sites are related to their anatomic location; chloromas may also be asymptomatic and be discovered incidentally in the course of evaluation of a person with acute myeloid leukemia. Central nervous system involvement, as described above, most often takes the form of meningeal leukemia, or invasion of the subarachnoid space by leukemic cells. This condition is usually considered separately from chloroma, as it requires different treatment modalities. True chloromas (i.e. solid leukemic tumors) of the central nervous system are exceedingly rare, but have been described. Diagnosis
Definitive diagnosis of a chloroma usually requires a biopsy of the lesion in question. Historically, even with a tissue biopsy, pathologic misdiagnosis was an important problem, particularly in patients without a clear pre-existing diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia to guide the pathologist.