This paper reports for the first time results of cytogenetic studies on 14 consecutive secondary acute non-
lymphocytic leukemia (S-
ANLL) induced by
bimolane therapy. They included 10 males and 4 females with ages ranging from 17 to 54 years. They had all suffered from
psoriasis and received
bimolane treatment before the occurrence of their
leukemia. The total dose of
bimolane ranged from 40 to 400 g (mean dose 194 g). The interval between the initiation of
bimolane therapy and the diagnosis of
leukemia was 12-96 months (median 30 months). A preleukemic phase was only found in one case. No dysplastic features in the hemopoietic series were seen in any patient. Chromosome analysis of bone marrow cells using banding techniques revealed clonal karyotypic abnormalities in all cases: t(15;17) in 8 cases of M3, of which 75% had extra abnormalities, t(8;21) in 4 cases of M2, del(7q) only in one case of M4 and one case of M5. After antileukemic
therapy, complete remission was obtained in 10 out of 12 cases with specific translocations and one out of 2 cases with 7q-anomaly, respectively. The former survived 4-58 months (median 12 months), while the latter 1 and 9 months, respectively. This study indicates that: (1)
bimolane is a causative factor of
leukemia in this series; (2) the
leukemia in our series is
therapy-related
leukemia (TRL) rather than de novo
ANLL; (3) there exists, in fact, a new subgroup of TRL characterized by specific rearrangements, whose clinical, hematological and prognostic features and pathogenetic mechanism may be different from classical TRL characterized by
chromosome abnormalities involving absence or deletion of parts of chromosome 5 and/or 7.