Background: Solid tumors may occur in 3% of the patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In this paper, we presented a case of CML following treatment of colon cancer.
Case presentation: A 25 year old man was diagnosed of adenocarcinoma of rectosigmoid treated with fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. Following relapse, he received florouracil, oxaliplatin and irinotecan during the next year. Then he developed BCR-ABL positive CML. With Imatinib 400 mg/day, he achieved hematologic response but died because of progressive colon cancer.
Conclusion: This article emphasizes that there is a possibility for etiologic correlation between CML and chemotherapeutic agents in solid cancers.
Keywords: Chemotherapy; Chronic myelogenous leukemia; Colon cancer.