Prevalence of Chromosome 7 Abnormalities in Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Single Center Study and Brief Literature Review

Chromosome 7 abnormalities in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) heralds a poor prognosis. However its prevalence, morphological characteristics and clinical impact in MDS and AML in Indian subcontinent is sparsely reported. This was an observational cross-sectional study performed to evaluate the clinico-pathological profiles of MDS/AML patients with chromosome 7 abnormalities over a period of 4years. 724 cases of MDS (n=150) and AML (n=574) were evaluated. Abnormal karyotype was detected in 49% (43/88) patients of MDS and 44% (127/289) cases of AML. Chromosome 7 abnormalities were detected in 18% cases of MDS (16/88) and 6.5% (19/289) cases of AML. Sole chromosome 7 abnormalities were detected in 5.7% (5/88) and 2.7% (8/289) and in adjunct to complex abnormalities in 7.9 and 3.1% cases of MDS and AML respectively. Morphologically, dyserythropoiesis, dysmyelopoiesis and eosinophilia were seen in 100, 66 and 56% cases of MDS and 38, 40 and 21% cases of AML. Majority of the patients had an aggressive natural course and outcome was dismal. Chromosome 7 abnormalities are strongly associated with the presence of morphological dysplasia and eosinophilia, irrespective of the type of aberration. It is invariably associated with very poor outcome.