title: Cytogenetic findings of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in fars province.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the sixth most common malignancy in Iran. Cytogenetic analysis of leukemic blasts plays an important role in classification and prognosis in ALL patients. The purpose of this study was to define the frequency of chromosomal abnormalities of ALL patients in adults and children in Fars province, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated karyotype results of bone marrow specimens in 168 Iranian patients with ALL (154 B-ALL and 14 T-ALL) in Fars Province using the conventional cytogenetic G-banding method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of cytogenetic abnormalities, including numerical and/or structural changes, was 61.7% and 53.8% in the B-ALL and T-ALL patients, respectively. Hyperdiploidy was the most common (32%) cytogenetic abnormality. Among structural abnormalities, the most common was t(9;22) in 11% of the patients. The children showed a higher incidence of hyperdiploidy and lower incidence of t(9;22) than adults (P<0.05). We found a lower incidence of recurrent abnormalities such as 11q23, t(1;19), and t(12;21) than those reported in previous studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Normal karyotype was more frequent in our study. The frequencies of some cytogenetic abnormalities such as hyperdiploidy and t(9;22) in our study were comparable to those reported in the literature. The results of this study in Fars Province can be used as baseline information for treatment decision and research purposes in ALL patients. We recommend the use of advanced molecular techniques in the future to better elucidate cryptic cytogenetic abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Akbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Safaei
authors.forename: Jahanbanoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shahryari
authors.forename: Mohamad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Farzaneh
authors.forename: Narjes
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tabibi
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosseini
keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Chromosomal abnormalities; Cytogenetic analysis; Incidence; Iran