Recurrence of Ph'-positive leukemia in donor cells after marrow transplantation for chronic granulocytic leukemia

The recurrence of leukemia in donor cells is a rare type of relapse after bone-marrow transplantation for acute leukemia, whether lymphoblastic or nonlymphoblastic. This phenomenon was first described in 1971, and since then additional cases have been reported - two of nonlymphoblastic and five of lymphoblastic leukemia. Disease recurred in the original cell line in five cases, and in morphologically different lines in two; all the patients were either in relapse or in an advanced stage of disease at the time of transplantation. The authors report a case of Ph' (Philadelphia cromosome)-positive leukemic relapse in donor cells after allogeneic marrow transplantation for Ph'-positive chronic granulocytic leukemia in a second chronic phase.