Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm: The European Perspective

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm in Jinhua, China: Two case reports

BACKGROUND

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare and clinically aggressive hematologic malignancy originating from the precursors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells. BPDCN often involves the skin, lymph nodes, and bone marrow, with rapid clinical progression and a poor prognosis. The BPDCN diagnosis is mainly based on the immunophenotype.

CASE SUMMARY

In this paper, we retrospectively analyzed 2 cases of BPDCN. Both patients were elderly males. The lesions manifested as skin masses. Morphological manifestations included diffuse and dense tumor cell infiltration of the dermis and subcutaneous tissues. Immunohistochemistry staining showed that cluster of differentiation CD4, CD56, CD43, and CD123 were positive.

CONCLUSION

In this paper, we retrospectively analyzed 2 cases of BPDCN. Both patients were elderly males. The lesions manifested as skin masses. Morphological manifestations included diffuse and dense tumor cell infiltration of the dermis and subcutaneous tissues. Immunohistochemistry staining showed that cluster of differentiation CD4, CD56, CD43, and CD123 were positive.

Disparities in dermatology AI performance on a diverse, curated clinical image set

An estimated 3 billion people lack access to dermatological care globally. Artificial intelligence (AI) may aid in triaging skin diseases and identifying malignancies. However, most AI models have not been assessed on images of diverse skin tones or uncommon diseases. Thus, we created the Diverse Dermatology Images (DDI) dataset-the first publicly available, expertly curated, and pathologically confirmed image dataset with diverse skin tones. We show that state-of-the-art dermatology AI models exhibit substantial limitations on the DDI dataset, particularly on dark skin tones and uncommon diseases. We find that dermatologists, who often label AI datasets, also perform worse on images of dark skin tones and uncommon diseases. Fine-tuning AI models on the DDI images closes the performance gap between light and dark skin tones. These findings identify important weaknesses and biases in dermatology AI that should be addressed for reliable application to diverse patients and diseases.

Tagraxofusp for the Treatment of Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm (BPDCN): A Brief Report on Emerging Data

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare myeloid malignancy, for which conventional chemotherapy has poor outcomes. CD123, the α-subunit of interleukin (IL)-3 receptor, is constantly overexpressed at the surface of tumoral cells. Tagraxofusp (or SL-401) is a recombinant cytotoxin which consists of human interleukin-3 fused to a truncated diphtheria toxin. It is currently the only novel therapy with a prospective evaluation of efficacy and safety in the treatment of BPDCN and is also the only one to achieve FDA approval. In this short review, the results of tagraxofusp are summarized and perspectives of its use in BPDCN and in other malignancies are discussed. The safety profile is also summarized, since capillary leak syndrome is the main toxic effect of the drug, along with more common toxicities including an increase in transaminases and thrombocytopenia.