Decitabine combined with all-trans retinoic acid as treatment in a case of primary myelofibrosis transforming into acute myeloid leukaemia.

Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a type of cloned myeloproliferative neoplasm stemming from haematopoietic stem cells, and tends to transform to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in approximately 10-20% of cases over a 10-year period. The transformation into AML has a poor prognosis, with a median overall survival of only 2.6 months in patients receiving supportive treatment. To date, treatment of AML transformation remains poor. The case of a 58-year-old female patient with AML transformed from PMF, who was treated with decitabine combined with all-trans retinoic acid, is reported. The patient had complete remission and a 17-month overall survival from initial diagnosis of transformed AML, with tolerated haematologic toxicity during the treatment period.