title: Therapy-Associated Myeloid Dysplasia in a Long-Surviving Patient with Pancreatic Cancer.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer remains a diagnosis of poor prognosis with a median survival time of four-six months in patients with advanced stage of the disease. Although, with the development of novel chemotherapy agents some patients are able to live a little longer if they respond to therapy. However, long-term complications of chemotherapy or radiotherapy are not known due to the short survival period of patients with pancreatic cancer. We present a case of a 55-year-old-woman who developed therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS) during a survival of approximately eight years during which she received multiple chemotherapies and radiation therapy. She presented with progressive fatigue and pancytopenia, which led to further work-up and led to the diagnosis of t-MDS. The latency period to developing hematologic abnormalities as well as the presence of the chromosome 5 and 7 abnormalities in this patient are likely consistent with t-MDS and possibly related to the use of chemotherapeutic agents such as oxaliplatin or irinotecan and radiation therapy.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Tufts Medical Center.
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suzukida
authors.affiliation: Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaley
authors.affiliation: Myelodysplastic Syndrome Center, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Azra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raza
authors.affiliation: Hematology/Oncology, Tufts Medical Center.
authors.forename: Muhammad W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Saif
keywords: leukemia; mds; oxaliplatin; pancreatic cancer; radiation