Interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS) is an extremely rare tumor derived from interdigitating dendritic cells. We report the first case of a 64-year-old Chinese woman who was diagnosed with simultaneous IDCS and acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AML-M4). The patient had undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer 6 years previously. Based on the laboratory results, both the IDCS and the AML-M4 in this patient were determined to be of myelogenous origination. Furthermore, a review of 62 IDCS cases (Medline database, key word: IDCS) reported to date revealed that as many as 17 % of the patients had malignant disease and received radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy prior to developing IDCS, and that this group of patients showed worse prognosis compared with counterparts. The patient in the present report showed poor response to four cycles of sequential chemotherapy, and died 6 months after the initial diagnosis.