Osteomalacic new bone formation during chemotherapy of acute granulocytic leukemia

The development of a rapid rate of regeneration of osteomalacic bone in a patient treated for acute granulocytic leukemia has been demonstrated for the first time. This positive bone balance was most intense at the time of maximal depletion of leukemic tissue. The authors postulate that new formation of osteomalcic bone is due to inability to maintain the rate of calcification parallel to that of bone formation. A similar abnormality occurs in egg-laying birds, in rapidly growing children on a diet suboptimal in vitamin D who have rickets, and in some patients with osteoblastic metastases.