LEUKEMIC TRANSFORMATION IN 3 PATIENTS WITH POLYCYTHEMIA-VERA - ANALYSIS OF THE CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES AND N-RAS GENE MUTATION

Thirty-three patients were diagnosed as having polycythemia vera (PV) from 1973 to 1993 in our institution. Of these patients, three who had been treated with alkylating agents, progressed to acute nonlymphocyt ic leukemia (ANLL). Their physical findings and the laboratory data we re similar to those patients who did not become leukemic. To investiga te the association with leukemic evolution, we examined N-ras oncogene activation in those patients who progressed to acute leukemia. Point mutations in codons 12 and 13 were not always detected, suggesting tha t the N-ras gene did not influence occurrence of ANLL in our patients.