Newly emerged isolated Del(7q) in patients with prior cytotoxic therapies may not always be associated with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms

Deletion 7q is a common chromosomal abnormality in myeloid neoplasms. Detection of del(7q) in patients following cytotoxic therapies is highly suggestive of an emerging therapy-related myeloid neoplasm. In this study, we describe 39 patients who acquired del(7q) as a sole abnormality in their bone marrow following cytotoxic therapies for malignant neoplasms. The median interval from cytotoxic therapies to detection of del(7q) was 40 months (range, 4-190 months). Twenty-eight patients showed an interstitial and 11 showed a terminal 7q deletion. Fifteen patients (38%) had del(7q) as a large clone and 24 (62%) as a small clone. With a median follow-up of 21 months (range, 1-135 months), 18 (46%) patients developed therapy-related myeloid neoplasms, including all 15 patients with a large del(7q) clone and 3/24 (12.5%) with a small clone. Of the remaining 21 patients with a small del(7q) clone, 16 showed no evidence of therapy-related myeloid neoplasms and 5 had an inconclusive pathological diagnosis. We conclude that isolated del(7q) emerging in patients after cytotoxic therapy may not always be associated with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms in about half of patients. The clone size of del(7q) is critical; a large clone is almost always associated with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms, whereas a small clone can be a clinically indolent or transient finding.