Spontaneous remission in a secondary acute myelogenous leukaemia followinginvasive pulmonary aspergillosis

Spontaneous remission of adult acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) represents a rare event. We report a 60-year-old female patient suffering from second ary AML M1 and severe invasive pulmonary hyalohyphomycosis highly suggestiv e of aspergillosis. Two months after the diagnosis of leukaemia, she achiev ed a spontaneous remission lasting 3 months, although neither cytostatic dr ugs nor corticoids were administered because of a septic condition. At the time of remission, a chronic hepatitis C virus infection and a polyclonal h ypergammaglobulinaemia were present, and the patient received granulocyte c olony-stimulating factor once. This report represents the first documentati on of a spontaneous remission in AML following invasive pulmonary hyalohyph omycosis. Possible mechanisms of this phenomenon are discussed.