Treatment-related chronic myelogenous leukemia

Treatment-related (Tr) AML and MDS after chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or the combination of both have been well characterized. However, tr-CML seems to differ from these better-known entities in frequency, clinical course, and prognosis. Tr-CML cannot be distinguished from de novo CML cytogenetically, and, in contrast to tr-AML and tr-MDS, typical chromosomal aberrations related to tr-CML have not been described. Treatment-related CML is a late effect of cytotoxic or immunosuppressive therapy which might be increasingly recognized due to a higher number of patients treated with intensive therapy regimens. We review here the available data on incidence of tr-CML as well as the affected individual's characteristics with regard to different treatment options in malignant and nonmalignant diseases.