What is a late and life-threatening complication of chronic myelogenous leukemia?

Blast crisis is a late and life-threatening complication of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). This phase represents the progression of the disease from a more controlled state, characterized by the predominance of mature myeloid cells, to a significantly more aggressive form, resembling acute leukemia. During the blast crisis, there is a dramatic increase in immature cells, or blasts, in the peripheral blood and bone marrow, which can lead to a rapid decline in the patient's clinical condition.

The transformation to blast crisis usually occurs as the disease fails to respond to standard treatment regimens, and it indicates a much poorer prognosis. Patients may experience symptoms such as severe fatigue, infections due to neutropenia, and other complications related to a high leukemic burden. Therefore, recognizing blast crisis as a major form of disease progression is critical in managing patients with CML.

While sepsis, pancytopenia, and coagulopathy can occur in CML or as complications of other related treatments, they are not specific late complications unique to the progression of CML itself as blast crisis is recognized to be.