title: Isolated +15 in bone marrow: disease-associated or a benign finding?
abstract: It has been controversial if trisomy 15 (+15) as an isolated clonal cytogenetic abnormality in bone marrow (BM) is disease-associated or a benign finding. To answer this question, we retrospectively reviewed our cytogenetic archives and identified 31 patients with isolated +15. Four patients presented with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), +15 was the major clone (56-95% of interphases) in BM and the clonal size of +15 was correlated with blast burden and disease status. For the remaining 27 patients, +15 was a minor clone (3-24% of interphases) in BM. Eighteen patients had a history of cytotoxic therapies and developed +15 after a median latency interval of 34 months. Six patients had BM involvement by lymphoma or myeloma, and +15 was exclusively detected in myeloid and erythroid cells, not in lymphoma or myeloma cells. With a median follow-up of 28 months, none of these 27 patients had clinical or morphological evidence of myelodysplastic syndromes. We conclude that +15 can be associated with AML, but more often isolated +15 presents as a minor clone in BM, and may not be disease associated. Clinical follow-up rather than an immediate therapeutic intervention seems most appropriate for non-leukemic patients with isolated +15.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Rashmi Shivani
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Bueso-Ramos
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Shimin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Maitrayee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: C Cameron
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: L Jeffrey
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: gtang@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Guilin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D014314:Trisomy / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology
keywords: AML; Clinical significance; Post cytotoxic therapy; Trisomy 15