Acute myelomonocytic leukemia with dysplastic bone marrow eosinophils showing t(5;17)(q13;q11) and a secondary chromosomal aberration, inv(16)(p13q22)

inv(16)(p13q22) is associated with de novo acute myelomonocytic leukemia with dysplastic bone marrow cosinophils (AMML Eo), which has a relatively favorable clinical course with a longer remission duration and better survival prospects. On the other hand, t(5;17)(q13;q11), although relatively rare, has been reported to be a component of complex chromosomal abnormalities in myelodysplastic syndromes and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We treated a 29-year-old woman with the first reported case of denovo AMML Eo with inv(16)(p13q22) in addition to t(5;17)(q13;q11). Although she attained complete remission (CR) immediately after induction therapy, the disease recurred 1 year after the completion of consolidation therapies. She underwent HLA-matched unrelated allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (UBMT), together with a myeloablative conditioning regimen, after achieving a second CR and has survived without a recurrence for more than 24 months since UBMT. In general, certain secondary chromosomal abnormalities are associated with the phenotype of the disease, which retains its essential biologic characteristics established by the primary abnormality. Accordingly, the primary nature of the leukemic cells in this case differs from the findings for core-binding factor AML with inv(16)(p13q22). We believe this report is the first of de novo AMML Eo with t(5;17)(q13;q11) showing as a secondary chromosomal aberration with inv(16)(p13q22).