Regular Article

British Journal of Cancer (2000) 83, 91–94. doi:10.1054/bjoc.2000.1196 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 6 June 2000

Secondary myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukaemia following mitoxantrone-based therapy for breast carcinoma

R Saso1, S Kulkarni2, P Mitchell3, J Treleaven1, G J Swansbury4, J Mehta5, R Powles2, S Ashley6, R Kuan7 and T Powles2

  1. 1Department of Haematology, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Downs Road, Sutton SM2 5PT, UK
  2. 2Department of Medical Oncology, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Downs Road, Sutton SM2 5PT, UK
  3. 3Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre, Victoria, West Heidelberg, Australia
  4. 4Department of Cytogenetics, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Downs Road, Sutton, SM2 5PT, UK
  5. 5Division of Transplantation Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29203, USA
  6. 6Thames Cancer Registry, London, UK
  7. 7Department of Statistics, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Downs Road, Sutton, SM2 5PT, UK

Received 23 November 1999; Revised 23 February 2000; Accepted 23 February 2000.

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Abstract

Of 1774 patients with breast cancer given mitoxantrone (MTZ) with methotrexate (n = 492) or with methotrexate and mitomycin C (n = 1282), nine developed MDS/AML after a median of 2.5 years. Median duration of survival from diagnosis of MDS/AML was 10 months and six patients died. The crude incidence of developing MDS/AML after MMM or MM chemotherapy was 15 per 100 000 patient years follow-up, while the actuarial risk was 1.1% and 1.6% at 5 and 10 years respectively. MTZ-based regimens carry a 10 times higher risk of subsequent MDS/AML compared to that seen in the general population. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords:

myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukaemia, breast cancer, mitoxantrone

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