Failure of karyotypic instability to predict clinical progression in patients with dysmyelopoietic syndromes

Twenty-five patients with leukemia and dysmyelopoietic syndrome underwent serial cytogenetic analysis during the course of their disease. All 21 patients with leukemia had improvement or disappearance of karyotypic abnormalities with effective treatment of their leukemia, and karyotypic progression was observed only in instances of recurrent or progressive leukemia. All four patients with dysmyelopoietic syndrome exhibited karyotypic instability, which was independent of therapeutic interventions or disease progression. The data presented suggest that karyotypic instability in the dysmyelopoietic syndromes may be more common than currently accepted.