40-year-old man with antibiotic-resistant pharyngotonsillitis

ETP-ALL is a subtype of leukemia with distinctive immunophenotype and genetic features: blasts expressing CD7, lack of CD1a and CD8, often CD5 negative or weakly positive and exhibiting 1 or more myeloid or stem cell markers. Precursor T lymphocytes are closely related to myeloid lineage and stem cells and still keep a limited lineage commitment to the T cell. Recently, the function of the BCL11B locus in the leukemogenesis of a subgroup of leukemias—one-third of all ETP-ALLs— has been reported. The involvement of these multifactorial genes could shed light on the mechanisms through which the onset of oncogenesis and the recovery of cellular pluripotency programs coincide, opening the possibility for advanced and combined therapies beyond the threshold of gene therapy. We present the case of an ETP-ALL with Auer rods in blasts and mature polynuclear cells.