This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Flaig, T. W. Articles by Glodé, L. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Flaig, T. W. Articles by Glodé, L. M.

Randomization Reveals Unexpected Acute Leukemias in Southwest Oncology Group Prostate Cancer Trial

Thomas W. Flaig, Catherine M. Tangen, Maha H.A. Hussain, Walter M. Stadler, Derek Raghavan, E. David Crawford, L. Michael Glodé

From the University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, CO; Southwest Oncology Group Statistical Center, Seattle, WA; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH

Corresponding author: Thomas W. Flaig, M.D., Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Mail Stop 8117, P.O. Box 6511, Aurora, CO 80045-0511; e-mail: Thomas.Flaig{at}UCHSC.edu

Purpose: Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) study 9921 is a randomized, phase III, intergroup study to define the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with high-risk prostate cancer.

Patients and Methods: We allocated 983 patients with prostate cancer with high-risk features to receive 2 years of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with or without six cycles of mitoxantrone (12 mg/m²) after prostatectomy.

Results: In January 2007, SWOG 9921 was closed to further accrual after three cases of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) were reported of a total of 487 patients in the mitoxantrone treatment arm. The key cytogenetic features of these cases included inv(16) in the first case, t(15;17) in the second, and del(5) in the third case. Time from the start of mitoxantrone to the detection of AML was 13, 48, and 72 months, respectively. Before SWOG 9921, there were no cases of mitoxantrone-induced AML reported in patients treated for prostate cancer.

Conclusion: The emergence of this possible pattern of secondary malignancy emphasizes the importance of randomized controlled trials in defining safety and efficacy of new approaches for patients in the adjuvant setting.

Supported in part by the following Public Health Service Cooperative Agreement Grant Nos. awarded by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Human Health and Services: CA38926, CA32102, CA42777, CA27057, CA41287, CA04919.

The manuscript contains original results and analysis not previously presented. One case was previously reported, but not in the context of the additional cases and the subsequent closure of the trial.⁹

Authors’ disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.