title: Allelic imbalances in radiation-associated acute myeloid leukemia.
abstract: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can develop as a secondary malignancy following radiotherapy, but also following low-dose environmental or occupational radiation exposure. Therapy-related AML frequently carries deletions of chromosome 5q and/or 7, but for low-dose exposure associated AML this has not been described. For the present study we performed genome-wide screens for loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) in a set of 19 AML cases that developed after radiation-exposure following the Chernobyl accident. Using Affymetrix SNP arrays we found large regions of LOH in 16 of the cases. Eight cases (42%) demonstrated LOH at 5q and/or 7, which is a known marker of complex karyotypic changes and poor prognosis. In accordance with literature data, the overall survival for these patients was significantly shorter as compared to patients without this alteration (P=0,014). We could show here for the first time that exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation induces AML with molecular alterations similar to those seen in therapy-related cases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Radiology, Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova, 04050 Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: Sergiy V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Klymenko
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smida
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Volodymir G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Bebeshko
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nathrath
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosemann