title: When are apparently non-clonal abnormalities in bone marrow chromosome studies actually clonal?
abstract: The observation of an apparently non-clonal abnormal cell in a cytogenetic study for a hematologic neoplasm opens the possibility of a small, or slowly proliferating, abnormal clone. Many laboratories analyze additional cells or reflex to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to evaluate this possibility further. In a retrospective study of 500 cases with a non-clonal abnormal cell identified in a 20-cell analysis, we found that the benefit of additional metaphase analysis was limited to specific categories of abnormal karyotypes, including those with a complex karyotype or a classic abnormality known to be a recurring finding in hematologic neoplasms, and excluding all other categories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Chandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hutchens
authors.forename: Rhett P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ketterling
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Van Dyke
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002877:Chromosomes, Human; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D012189:Retrospective Studies