ACHIEVEMENT OF A COMPLETE CYTOGENETIC RESPONSE WITH HYDROXYUREA IN A PATIENT WITH CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA

Hydroxyurea rarely produces a complete cytogenetic remission in patien ts with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). In this report, we describ e one case of the CML patient who achieved complete cytogenetic remiss ion (no Ph chromosome in 20-25 metaphase cells) by treatment with hydr oxyurea alone. By the fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) methodo logy using bcr/abl specific translocation probe, sequential bone marro w specimens from the patient showed the characteristic 9;22 translocat ion at a higher rate (9-10%) than the normal control range (2.49-4.88% ) at the time of complete cytogenetic remission. Thus, it is suggested that FISH is a more sensitive method to detect the bcr/abl fusion gen e than conventional cytogenetic analysis for the detection of minimal residual disease in CML. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.