Clinicopathological aspects of therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

Publication date: Available online 27 February 2019Source: Best Practice & Research Clinical HaematologyAuthor(s): Chong Chyn Chua, Shaun Fleming, Andrew H. WeiABSTRACTTherapy-related myeloid neoplasm (t-MN) is a rare but devastating consequence of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy used for the treatment of solid cancers and various hematologic malignancies. Our current understanding of the etiology is that hematopoietic clones that are contemporaneous with the primary cancer and resistant to the cytotoxic exposure have the potential to undergo selective expansion and transformation to t-MN. Consequently, a large proportion of cases are associated with adverse risk factors, resulting in limited effective treatment options. Despite the emergence of some therapies with promising activity in t-MN, most effects are short-lived and allogeneic stem cell transplantation remains the only curative option for eligible patients. This review summarizes the current literature on t-AML and t-MDS, with the aim of providing practical recommendations on the clinical evaluation and management of these conditions.

Source: Best Practice and Research Clinical Haematology - February 27, 2019 Category: Hematology Source Type: research