Isolated del(5q) in Patients Following Therapies for Various Malignancies May Not All Be Clinically Significant

Deletion 5q is a common chromosomal abnormality in both de novo and therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MNs). The detection of isolated del(5q) in patients following therapies for various malignancies raises serious concern for an emerging t-MN.

We identified 25 patients who developed isolated del(5q) following cytotoxic therapy (n = 21) or tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI; n = 4) therapy. Twenty-four patients had an interstitial and one had a terminal 5q deletion. The 5q31/EGR1 gene was deleted in 20 patients and intact in five patients. The clone size as assessed by metaphase analysis was minor (10%-30%) in 12 patients and large (45%-100%) in 13 patients. After a median follow-up of 17 months, none of the 12 patients with a minor del(5q) clone developed t-MN; del(5q) disappeared in four patients and persisted in eight patients. By contrast, 12 of 13 patients with a large del(5q) clone developed t-MN, and del(5q) was persistent in all patients who had follow-up cytogenetic testing.

Development of del(5q) in patients following cytotoxic therapies or TKI may not always be associated with t-MN. A close follow-up seems an appropriate approach for patients who had a minor del(5q) clone.