Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia following Hodgkin's disease is associated with a good prognosis.
Acute leukaemia, both myeloid and lymphoblastic, in patients treated for Hodgkin's disease (HD) is thought to have a poor prognosis. We report four adults who developed secondary acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) following chemoradiotherapy for HD. The chromosomal translocation t(4;11) (q21;q23) was found in two patients who received a chemotherapeutic regimen containing the DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide. Three of the four patients are alive and in unmaintained first remission at 3, 5 and 9 years from diagnosis of ALL, two following autologous bone marrow transplantation. These results suggest that ALL following HD may have a good prognosis when treated aggressively.
Narayanan
M N
MN
Department of Haematology, Christie Hospital, Manchester.
Morgenstern
G R
GR
Chang
J C
JC
Harrison
C J
CJ
Ranson
M
M
Scarffe
J H
JH
D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002880:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11; D002894:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D014178:Translocation, Genetic