Acute myelogenous leukemia suddenly developing just after surgery for advanced gastric cancer: report of a case

We report a case of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) developing just after surgery for advanced gastric cancer, before adjuvant chemotherapy was started. Immature white blood cells were recognized in the peripheral blood from postoperative day (POD) 1. The patient's clinical status and bone scintigraphy showed no evidence of bone metastasis. Acute myelogenous leukemia was diagnosed by an aspiration biopsy of the bone marrow. If the AML had developed later and had become remarkable during or after adjuvant chemotherapy, the differential diagnosis between de novo and therapy-related leukemia would have been very difficult. Most leukemias that develop during the course of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or both, are indisputably considered to be therapy-related. Thus, we report the clinical course of this patient with reference to the related literature to warn surgeons of the possibility of this unusual manifestation.