Cutaneous busulfan effect in patients receiving bone-marrow transplantation.

Epidermal keratinocytes with abnormally large nuclei were found in 12 of 13 patients who received high-dose busulfan and cyclophosphamide prior to receiving bone-marrow transplantation for treatment of hematological malignancies. These cells were similar to those previously described in the lungs, cervix and bladder of patients on long-term busulfan therapy. Marked keratinocyte nuclear abnormalities were not observed in bone-marrow transplant recipients who received a preparatory regimen of cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation. This histologic cutaneous busulfan effect was transient and was unrelated to the development of graft-versus-host reaction.