Lymphoid blastic crisis at the onset of chronic granulocytic leukemia: report of two cases

Two patients with a typical hematologic pattern of acute lymphatic leukemia were brought into complete remission by treatment. A few weeks later they developed a typical peripheral and bone marrow pattern of chronic granulocytic leukemia, with Philadelphia chromosome and very low leukocyte alkaline phosphatase. These cases, along with other findings recently reported in the literature, support the possibility of a previously unrecognized relationship between lymphoblastic cell populations and chronic granulocytic leukemia.