Acquisition of additional primary chromosome abnormalities in the course of karyotype evolution in a case of FAB-M2 acute leukemia.
Cytogenetic studies of bone marrow metaphases from a 17-year-old woman with acute myeloid leukemia revealed a leukemic clone characterized by the t(8;21)(q22;q22) characteristic of FAB-M2. The patient was treated and achieved transient remissions. On relapse, her leukemic clone had acquired, in addition to the t(8;21), the inv(16)(p13q22) characteristic of FAB-M4Eo and a 5q- of the type seen in various acute myeloid leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. This cell line persisted throughout the remainder of the patient's clinical course. There were no other clonal chromosome abnormalities observed. The observation of multiple chromosome mutations, usually regarded separately as primary, in a single leukemic clone is most unusual and raises questions about our concepts of the nature of primary acquired chromosome mutations in cancer.
University of Toronto Hospitals Cancer Cytogenetics Program, Department of Laboratory Hematology, Ontario, Canada.
D
D
Battaglia
I
I
Dubé
P
P
Pinkerton
J
J
Senn
D000293:Adolescent; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000235:genetics*