The incidence and characteristics of acute myeloid leukaemia arising in Hodgkin's disease.

In 201 consecutive patients with Hodgkin's disease treated from 1964 through 1975 with intensive irradiation and/or combination chemotherapy 3 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia were observed. The observed number of cases was 75 times over the expected (P less than 0.01). An analysis of 47 reported cases of acute myeloid leukaemia arising in Hodgkin's disease shows that these cases differ considerably from 'spontaneous' cases of acute myeloid leukaemia by appearing in a much younger age group, by a very poor response to anti-leukaemic chemotherapy, and by a relatively low male/female ratio (0.84). The intensification of radiotherapy and cytostatic therapy of Hodgkin's disease during the last decade is considered the explanation of the increased incidence of acute myeloid leukaemia in these patients.