Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia After Etoposide Therapy for Haemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is an uncommon disease with a high fatality rate. Etoposide is an important component of current HLH treatment regimes. Two patients with HLH developed etoposide-related secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) following therapy for HLH. Etoposide, an epipodophyllotoxin, is a topoisomerase II inhibitor that interacts with DNA to potentiate leukaemogenesis. The risk of developing sAML is estimated to be between 1% and 5%, 2-20 years after exposure to etoposide but may also be related to cumulative drug doses, treatment schedules, host factors and co-administration of other antineoplastic agents. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53: 488-490. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.