Partial remission of mast cell leukaemia in a minipig after chemotherapy

Mast cell leukaemia, the form of systemic mastocytosis with the lowest frequency in human beings and other species, is characterised by the presence of over 20 per cent mast cells in bone marrow aspirates, with the mast cells being generally immature and having a blast phenotype, and the presence of over 10 per cent mast cells in a differential white blood cell count, according to World Health Organization guidelines (Valent and others 2001 ). There is a lack of suitable treatment regimens for systemic mast cell tumours; cytotoxic agents as well as the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib have been shown to be effective in only a few cases ( Worobec 2000 ). [...]human beings with mast cell leukaemia are treated mainly with corticosteroids, sometimes in combination with IFN-α or cladribine, and antihistamines.