Inflammatory bowel disease and leukemia.

Five patients with inflammatory bowel disease developed leukemia. In the literature, only a single report was found in which five patients developed acute myelogenous leukemia during the course of ulcerative colitis. Four of our patients had myelogenous and one lymphocytic leukemia. Three patients had Crohn's disease involving primarily the small bowel; and the other two cases involved ulcerative colitis.