Concurrent translocation of BCL2 and MYC with a single immunoglobulin locus in high-grade B-cell lymphomas.
B-cell leukaemia or lymphoma with a combination of t(8;14)(q24;q32) of Burkitt leukaemia/lymphoma and t(14;18)(q32;q21) of follicular lymphoma may present clinically as de novo acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or transformation of follicular lymphoma to aggressive histology diffuse lymphoma. A number of cell lines have been reported with a complex t(8;14;18) with fusion of MYC, IGH and BCL2 on the same derivative 8 chromosome. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and chromosomal features of this der(8)t(8;14;18) in a series of acute leukaemias and malignant lymphomas. A database of 1350 leukaemia and lymphoma karyotypes was searched for cases with structural alterations affecting both 8q24 and 18q21. A total of 55 cases were identified, of which eight revealed a complex der(8)t(8;14;18) with an MYC-IGH-BCL2 rearrangement resulting from translocation of BCL2 and MYC with a single disrupted IGH allele. Molecular cytogenetic investigation is essential to identify cases of high-grade leukaemia/lymphoma with concurrent translocations affecting the BCL2 and MYC loci.
Knezevich
S
S
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, British Columbia Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ludkovski
O
O
Salski
C
C
Lestou
V
V
Chhanabhai
M
M
Lam
W
W
Klasa
R
R
Connors
J M
JM
Dyer
M J S
MJ
Gascoyne
R D
RD
Horsman
D E
DE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002883:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8; D005260:Female; D019254:Genes, bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007621:Karyotyping; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains