Therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia with del(7)(q22) in a patient with de novo AML.

A 55-year-old Korean woman was initially diagnosed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AML). After induction chemotherapy was performed using cytarabine, idarubicin, and G-CSF, complete remission (CR) was subsequently achieved following reinduction chemotherapy using the same chemotherapeutic agents. Thirty-six months after the initial CR, an increase in immature cells (up to 12.0%) was observed in the patient's bone marrow. Because chromosome analysis revealed a karyotype of 46,XX,del(7)(q22) in all of the analyzed cells, the patient was diagnosed with therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS). Although the patient subsequently received chemotherapy and G-CSF for neutropenia, t-MDS rapidly progressed after 3 months to therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML). Although very rare, de novo AML can progress to a secondary MDS/AML with del(7q) after chemotherapy with cytarabine, idarubicin, and G-CSF. Further investigation into the role of genes located in 7q22 may provide more information about the mechanisms of leukemogenesis.