title: Oncogenesis in utero: fetal death due to acute myelogenous leukaemia with an MLL translocation.
abstract: The incidence of translocations involving the 11q23 gene MLL is markedly increased in leukaemias that occur in infants <1 year of age. Epidemiological and molecular data have demonstrated that at least some of these translocations occur in utero. In this report we describe a case of fetal death at 36 weeks of gestation. At autopsy the fetus was found to have widely disseminated acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML), FAB subtype M5. Molecular cytogenetic studies of nuclei recovered from paraffin-embedded tissue sections demonstrated that the leukaemic cells contained an MLL translocation. This is the first detailed report, to our knowledge, of fetal death due to acute leukaemia, and directly demonstrates oncogenesis in utero.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, The Children's Hospital, Denver, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hunger
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McGavran
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meltesen
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Kassenbrock
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bitter
mesh_terms: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000235:genetics*; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase; D006801:Humans; D007948:Leukemia, Monocytic, Acute / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014178:Translocation, Genetic; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497422:KMT2A protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase