title: Chromosomal aberrations in adult T cell leukemia: relationship to the clinical severity.
abstract: A chromosome study was performed in 18 patients with adult T cell leukemia (ATL), who were divided into three groups according to their clinical manifestations: nine had acute ATL, six had chronic ATL, and three had smoldering ATL. Mitotic cells were obtained from peripheral blood, lymph node, or bone marrow and were analyzed by the G-banding technique. In acute ATL, the chromosome number ranged from diploid or pseudodiploid to hyperdiploid; in the chronic type, from hypodiploid to hyperdiploid; but in the smoldering type, it was diploid. Eight of nine patients with acute ATL had trisomy 3 and/or trisomy 7, whereas none of those with chronic ATL exhibited these aberrations. Patients with smoldering ATL had a normal karyotype. The present findings indicate that the more aggressive the clinical course of ATL, the more complex the numerical and structural chromosome abnormality.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics*; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011003:Ploidies; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D014314:Trisomy