Long-term survival and successful pregnancy in a Nigerian woman with concurrent diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic myeloid leukemia - a case report

Sep 22, 2026

Managing synchronous cancers is complex and may require multiple agents, raising adverse drug-reaction risks and increasing chemotherapy-induced infertility. This case report describes long-term survival and a successful pregnancy in a 30-year-old Nigerian woman with synchronous BCR::ABL1-positive chronic myeloid leukemia and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She received concurrent R-CHOP and imatinib mesylate, achieved remission, later returned after missed follow-up, and resumed breastfeeding on imatinib, maintaining remission.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Case presentation

Conclusion

Background

CML features and rarity of concurrent CML and NHL

Ahmed et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports (2026) 20:41 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-025-05773-3](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-025-05773-3) Journal of Medical Case Reports CASE REPORT Open Access Long-term survival and successful pregnancy in a Nigerian woman with concurrent diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic myeloid leukemia: a case report Ibrahim O. Ahmed 1* , Victor O. Ogunrinde2, Muritala A. Asafa3, Mary B. Agim 1, Akeem A. Adeleke4, Solomon O. Ayodele5, Omololu O. Adesunkanmi6, Blessing T. Ogunoye7, Stephen T. Adegbenro8, Rahman A. Bolarinwa 1,9, Lateef Salawu1,9 and Muheez A. Durosinmi 1,9 Abstract Background Managing synchronous cancers can be complex, often requiring multiple agents, which increases the risk of adverse drug reactions that could negatively impact patient survival. The risk of chemotherapy-induced infertility may also be higher, making pregnancy nearly impossible. The aim is to report long-term survival and successful pregnancy in a 30-year-old Nigerian woman with synchronous BCR::ABL1 positive chronic myeloid leukemia and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Case presentation The patient is a 30-year-old Nigerian woman referred by a general practitioner with a diagnosis of synchronous BCR::ABL1 positive chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The patient was managed concurrently with a combination of R-CHOP and imatinib mesylate and achieved remission; 5 years into therapy, the patient was lost to follow-up, only to present to the clinic 2 years later with a 1-month-old baby boy. Re-evaluation showed a loss of hematological and molecular remission in chronic myeloid leukemia but not in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Breastfeeding was stopped and then resumed on imatinib. She subsequently went into remission and is currently doing well on imatinib. Conclusion Although managing multiple cancers in an individual may be challenging, we reported long-term survival and successful pregnancy in a 30-year-old Nigerian woman with concurrent chronic myeloid leukemia and nonHodgkin lymphoma. Keywords Chronic myeloid leukemia, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Pregnancy, Survival *Correspondence: Ibrahim O. Ahmed [ibrahimsew@yahoo.com](ibrahimsew@yahoo.com) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)[.](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.) Ahmed et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports (2026) 20:41 Background Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm accounting for 15% of all leukemias in adults [1]. It is characterized by the cytogenetic hallmark of the Philadelphia chromosome, a translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22 [t(9;22) (q34; q11)] observed in 95% of cases. This translocation generates a highly oncogenic fusion gene, BCR::ABL1, with enhanced tyrosine kinase activity [2]. Although recent studies have demo

FAQs

What was the main purpose of the case report?

To report long-term survival and successful pregnancy in a 30-year-old Nigerian woman with synchronous BCR::ABL1-positive chronic myeloid leukemia and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

How were the patient’s cancers managed concurrently?

The patient was treated with a combination of R-CHOP and imatinib mesylate, achieving remission.

What happened after long-term therapy and follow-up interruption?

Five years into therapy she was lost to follow-up, then returned two years later with a 1-month-old baby; re-evaluation showed loss of hematological and molecular remission in CML but not in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and she resumed breastfeeding on imatinib.

Sep 22, 2026

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