title: Clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia with the t(4;11)(q21;q23): a collaborative study of 40 cases.
abstract: The t(4;11)(q21;q23) chromosomal abnormality was identified in 40 (2%) of 1,986 children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This translocation was associated with female sex (63%), age less than 1 year (60%), hyperleukocytosis (median leukocyte count, 156.5 x 10(9)/L), CD10-/CD19+ B-precursor cell immunophenotype, and myeloid-associated antigen (CD15) expression (63%). Nearly all cases had at least some CD24- blast cells. The CD10-/CD15%/CD19+/CD24/+ phenotype was found in 20 of the 32 t(4;11) cases tested. None of the 40 cases had the cytogenetic finding of hyperdiploidy greater than 50, which is a favorable prognostic feature. For clinical comparison, the t(4;11) cases were divided into three groups according to age at diagnosis: less than 1 year (n = 24), 1 to 9 years (n = 8), and greater than or equal to 10 years (n = 8). Compared with older patients, infants were more likely to have initial central nervous system leukemia (P = .05) and less likely to have pre-B-cell ALL (P = .05). Complete continuous remission has been maintained in only 7 of 24 infants and 2 of 8 patients aged greater than or equal to 10 years, in contrast to 7 of 8 children in the intermediate age group (P = .048). These findings suggest that the t(4;11) is an adverse prognostic feature in these two age groups.
authors.affiliation: St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38101.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Pui
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Frankel
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Raimondi
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Shuster
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Head
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Crist
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Land
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pullen
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Steuber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002880:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11; D002894:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007223:Infant; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D014178:Translocation, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD