title: Comparative genomic hybridization analysis of Japanese B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: correlation with clinical course.
abstract: B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is the most common leukemia in Westerners. By contrast, B-CLL is rare in Asians, including Japanese. We applied comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to screen 26 newly diagnosed Japanese B-CLL patients for genomic aberrations. Chromosomal imbalances were detected in 12 of the 26 cases (46%). The most frequent changes observed were gains of chromosomes 3q in five cases (19%) and 17q in three cases (12%). Other recurrent imbalances included gains of chromosomes 8q, 18q and losses of chromosomes 13q and 17p. Samples obtained at different sites disclosed identical CGH findings in all of the three cases examined. Genomic imbalances as detected by CGH were associated with disease progression and shorter survival. Two patients, with chromosomal imbalances, including gains of both 3q and 18q, developed large cell transformation of the disease within 4 years. In conclusion, CGH abnormality was associated with poor prognosis in Japanese B-CLL, and features of Japanese B-CLL, compared to chromosomal abnormalities of Western B-CLL in the literature, include a lower incidence of any abnormality in particular regarding gain of 12q, with the exception of a higher incidence of gains at 3q.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Molecular Medicine Unit, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Nagasaki, Japan. tsukasak@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukasaki
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lohr
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugahara
authors.forename: Shimeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamihira
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomonaga
authors.forename: Claus R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bartram
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jauch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D020732:Cytogenetic Analysis; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate