The syndrome of therapy-related myelodysplasia and myeloid leukemia

Patients who have received cytotoxic therapy with chemotherapy drugs and/or radiotherapy are at risk for long-term complications from their treatment. One of the most grave of these is the development of myelodysplasia or acute myeloid leukemia. Although a causal link has not yet been proven, these neoplasms are thought to be a direct consequence of mutational events caused by cytotoxic therapy and to be independent of the primary disease. Thus, they have been termed “therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome” (t-MDS) and “therapyrelated acute myeloid leukemia” (t-AML).