title: Translocation 4;11 acute leukemia: three case reports and review of the literature.
abstract: Three children with acute leukemia and t(4;11)(q21;q23) are presented. Two of the cases showed very unusual karyotypic findings and long survival for the type of leukemia. In case B.T., the original karyotype change observed was t(4;11), with other changes (+4q-,+11q+,+6,+10) appearing during the last stages of the disease. In case R.B., the translocation was accompanied by many numerical and morphological chromosome changes, with a near-tetraploid chromosome number. In both of the above cases, remission was associated with a normal marrow karyotype. In case D.C., only the t(4;11) was observed. The number of cases with t(4;11) and acute leukemia published so far is 36, including the three cases presented by us. As this disease is usually characterized by a relatively short survival, the possible reasons for the remarkably long survival in two of our patients are discussed in relation to the rather unusual cytogenetic findings.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002905:Chromosomes, Human, 4-5; D002906:Chromosomes, Human, 6-12 and X; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007621:Karyotyping; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014178:Translocation, Genetic