Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a Possible Sequela of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Irsa Munir MD¹, Talha Mehmood MD¹ and Isabel M. McFarlane^1,

¹Department of Internal Medicine, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y, U.S.A-11203

Cite this paper

Irsa Munir MD, Talha Mehmood MD and Isabel M. McFarlane. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a Possible Sequela of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2019; 7(10):230-235. doi: 10.12691/AJMCR-7-10-3

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder with progressive deterioration of both upper and lower motor neuron functions. It is a rare disease with one study demonstrating a prevalence of 3.9 cases per 100,000 in the USA in the year 2010-2011. It is a fatal disease with most of the deaths resulting from respiratory failure. There is no cure of this illness with some evidence supporting an improved median survival by two to three months with Riluzole (one of the agents used for treatment). Not much is known about the possible etiologies of ALS, a few studies have shown a possible likely association of ALS with various malignancies. Here we present an interesting case of a 35-year-old female with a diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia for seven years presented with a sub-acute decline in her motor function.

Keywords

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic myeloid leukemia, Riluzole

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	Paul Mehta, M. D. “Prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—United States, 2012–2013.” MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 65 (2016).
[2]	Wolf, J., et al. “Causes of death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Results from the Rhineland-Palatinate ALS registry.” Der Nervenarzt 88.8 (2017): 911-918.
[3]	Miller, Robert G., J. Douglas Mitchell, and Dan H. Moore. “Riluzole for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/motor neuron disease (MND).” Cochrane database of systematic reviews 3 (2012).
[4]	Marin, Benoît, et al. “Age-specific ALS incidence: a dose-response meta-analysis.” European journal of epidemiology33 (2018): 621-634.
[5]	Wang, Ming-Dong, et al. “Identification of risk factors associated with onset and progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using systematic review and meta-analysis.” Neurotoxicology 61 (2017): 101-130.
[6]	Corcia, Philippe, Paul H. Gordon, and Jean-Philippe Camdessanche. “Is there a paraneoplastic ALS?.” Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration 16.3-4 (2015): 252-257.
[7]	Freedman, D. Michal, et al. “The association between cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.” Cancer Causes & Control. 24.1 (2013): 55-60.
[8]	Worms, Paul M. “The epidemiology of motor neuron diseases: a review of recent studies.” Journal of the neurological sciences 191.1-2 (2001): 3-9.
[9]	Logroscino, Giancarlo, et al. “Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Europe.” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 81.4 (2010): 385-390.
[10]	Jordan, Heather, et al. “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis surveillance in Baltimore and Philadelphia.” Muscle & nerve. 51.6 (2015): 815-821.
[11]	Mehta, Paul, et al. “Prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—United States, 2014.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 67.7 (2018): 216.
[12]	Roberts, Andrea L., et al. “Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ALS mortality in the United States.” Neurology87.22 (2016): 2300-2308.
[13]	Freedman, D. Michal, et al. “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mortality in 1.9 million US cancer survivors.” Neuroepidemiology 25.4 (2005): 176-180.
[14]	Baade, P. D., L. Fritschi, and D. M. Freedman. “Mortality due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease among melanoma patients.” Neuroepidemiology 28.1 (2007): 16-20.
[15]	Habib, Ali Aamer, and Hiroshi Mitsumoto. “Emerging drugs for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.” Expert opinion on emerging drugs 16.3 (2011): 537-558.
[16]	Stepulak, Andrzej, et al. “Expression of glutamate receptor subunits in human cancers.” Histochemistry and cell biology. 132.4 (2009): 435-445.
[17]	Lee, Hwa Jin, et al. “Glutamatergic pathway targeting in melanoma: single-agent and combinatorial therapies.” Clinical Cancer Research 17.22 (2011): 7080-7092.