Cutaneous busulfan effect in patients receiving bone‐marrow transplantation

Abstract

Epidmeral keratinocytes with abnormally large nuclei were found in 12 of 13 patients who received high-dose busulfan and cyclophosphamide prior to receiving bone marrow transplantation for treatment of hematological malignancies. These cells were similar to those previously described in the lungs, cervix and bladder of patients on long-term busulfan therapy. Marked keratinocyte nuclear abnormalities were not observed in bone marrow transplant recipients who received a preparatory regimen of cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation. This histologic cutaneous busulfan effect was transient was unrelated to the development of graft-vs.-host reaction.