Chronic myeloid leukemia after treatment of lymphoid malignancies: Response to imatinib mesylate and favorable outcomes in three patients

Recent improved treatments for lymphoid malignancies produce more long-term survivors, yet increase the risk for secondary malignancies. Therapy-related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia are well described, but secondary chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has only rarely been reported. We report three patients with CML diagnosed 8, 10 and 2.5 years following Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia therapy, respectively. BCR-ABL transcripts were not detected after completion of primary therapy in two cases. All three patients received imatinib therapy, with one patient subsequently undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. All three patients have ongoing favorable responses to CML therapy.