Hematologic and cytogenetic study of 7 cases of preleukemic state or acute leukemia following the treatment of a first malignancy

: The authors present 7 cases of preleukemic state and/or acute leukemia following the treatment of a first malignancy (3 malignant lymphomas, 3 epithelial cancers and one polycythemia vera). A preleukemic state was found in all patients. In 6 cases it was followed by an acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia which was rapidly fatal; in one case, death occurred during the preleukemic phase. A karyotype was prepared during the preleukemic phase in 6 out of 7 patients and in 4 out of 6 during the leukemia. Karyotypes prepared during the preleukemic state presented at least one of the abnormalities which are characteristic of secondary hematopoietic disorders: -5/5q; -7/7q; involvement of 17. The same major clone was found in 3 of the 6 patients who were karyotyped during the acute leukemic phase. These karyotype abnormalities are not only characteristic of secondary acute leukemias but also of secondary dysmyelopoietic syndromes.