Abnormalities of 3q21 and 3q26 in myeloid malignancy: a United Kingdom Cancer Cytogenetic Group study

Cytogenetic and clinical details are presented for 66 patients with myeloid malignancy and chromosome abnormalities of 3q21 and/or 3q26 (3qabns). Bone marrow and/or peripheral blood morphology was assessed for 52 cases. 3qabns in Philadelphia negative (Ph-ve) and positive (Ph+ve) cases were inv(3)(q21q26), (21 Ph-ve, 6 Ph+ve); t(3;3)(q21;q26) (nine Ph-ve, four Ph+ve); and t(3;21)(q26;q22) (four Ph-ve, six Ph+ve). Ph-ve cases also had t(1;3)(p36;q21) (three cases), and t(3;5)(q21;q31)/(q21;q35)/(q26;q21) (five cases aged < 40 years). Three cases, aged < 30 years, had t(3;12)(q26;p13) which defines a new 3qabn subgroup. Monosomy 7 and/or 5q- accompanied inv(3) or t(3;3) in 17/30 cases. All cases had a myeloid malignancy (predominantly AML M1, M4 or M7), frequent trilineage myelodysplasia, and markedly abnormal megakaryopoiesis with micromegakaryocytes (< 30 microns). Thrombocytosis occurred in two cases only. Most Ph+ve cases were in myeloid blast crisis and in Ph+ve cases alone, micro-megakaryocytes were uniquely small (10 microns) in 7/11 cases. There were equal numbers of males and females. Seven secondary leukaemias were found in Ph-ve cases with inv(3), t(3;3), t(3;21), t(1;3) or del(3)(q21). Three cases with t(3;21) (one Ph+ve) were de novo AML or had de novo aplastic anaemia. Survival was rarely greater than 12 months from detection of the 3qabn.     

Fifty-one patients with acute myeloid leukemia and translocation t(8;21)(q22;q22): an additional deletion in 9q is an adverse prognostic factor

The translocation t(8;21)(q22;q22) occurs in 6 to 12 percent of patients with AML, and usually predicts a good response to chemotherapy with a high remission rate and a relatively long median survival. The influence of additional chromosome aberrations on the clinical outcome of patients with t(8;21) is unclear. We analyzed 51 cases of acute myeloid leukemia carrying a translocation t(8;21)(q22;q22); 23 female and 28 male patients. The complete remission rate was 92 percent and median overall survival was 52.4 months. The median overall survival of female patients was significantly worse than of male patients (37.2 months vs not reached, P = 0.025). Additional chromosome aberrations were detected in 41 patients at diagnosis (80 percent), 31 (61 percent) had lost a sex chromosome, seven (14 percent) showed a partial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 9 and in three patients (6 percent) a gain of chromosome 8 was observed. Whereas the loss of a sex chromosome had no influence on prognosis, a partial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 9 was an unfavorable prognostic factor. The median overall survival of the seven patients with del(9q) was only 12.5 months and thus significantly shorter than in patients with only t(8;21) or with t(8;21) and additional sex chromosome loss (median survival not reached: P = 0.0010).     

Role of second-look surgery in treatment of ovarian neoplasms

The study of chromosomal abnormalities in AML has become very important in the diagnosis and in the characterization of subtypes since they are related to defined clinical, morphological and immunological features as well as treatment outcome and survival. PURPOSE: To evaluate the relative importance of cytogenetic abnormalities may have in AML patients. METHODS: 13 AML patients were studied during diagnosis. Cytogenetic study was performed on bone marrow aspirate material. RESULTS: M1 and M2 FAB subtypes were the most frequent (61.6%). The patients' median age was 38 years. Cytogenetic analysis showed abnormal karyotype in 61.5% of the cases and 15.3% of whom had abnormalities considered as good prognosis [t(15;17) and t(8;21)]. At the evaluation day there were 3 patients alive, two in continuous complete remission and 1 in a second remission. The median total survival time was 7 months. Patients were divided into two groups: a "good prognosis" one, that joined 5 patients with normal karyotype and 2 with the translocations t(15;17) and t(8;21) and another, the "bad prognosis" one, with 8 patients with unfavorable chromosomal abnormalities. The good prognosis group had a median survival time of 9 months versus 6.2 months in the other, but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.18), probably owing to the small number of cases in the groups. But when one observes the cases separately see that patients with translocations (8;21) and (15;17), known as good prognosis, had longer survivals. CONCLUSION: The different survival time between the two groups showed the importance of cytogenetic study to distinguish the patient who will have favorable evolution.     

t(8;21)急性髓系白血病患者MICM分型及预后的回顾性分析

目的 分析t(8;21)急性髓系白血病(AML)患者的细胞形态学、免疫表型、遗传学、分子生物学(MICM)分型及临床治疗疗效.方法 运用瑞特染色法、FAB细胞形态分类标准、流式细胞术(FCM)直接免疫荧光标记技术、遗传学染色体吉姆萨显带技术及RT-PCR技术对70例确认有t(8;21)与AML1-ETO融合基因双阳性的AML患者及70例正常染色体核型的AML患者进行分析和比较.结果 70例t(8;21)AML患者中M11例,M2 64例,M4 3例,无法分型的急性白血病(AL)2例;免疫表型分析发现CD13、CD33、CD34、CD117高表达,40%表达CD19,11%表达CD15,10%表达CD11b,7%表达CD7;遗传学显示50%的t(8;21)AML患者有附加染色体异常,主要为性染色体丢失、9q-及超二倍体;RT-PCR检测AML1-ETO融合基因100%阳性.CD+19t(8;21)AML患者完全缓解(CR)率72%,CD+19伴CD+7t(8;21)AML患者CR率为0,正常核型CR率31%.结论 t(8;21)AML患者主要在M2中集中出现,附加染色体异常较多见.CD19表达较高,而CD7表达极低,CD34、CD117高表达,这些抗原的表达可能与核型密切相关.CD+19是预后良好的指标,但同时出现CD+7,则预后不良.     

Expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule CD56 is associated with short remission duration and survival in acute myeloid leukemia with t(8;21)(q22;q22)

Although acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(8;21) (q22;q22) is associated with a high complete remission (CR) rate and prolonged disease-free survival, treatment outcome is not universally favorable. Identifying factors that predict for treatment outcome might allow therapy to be optimized based on risk. AML with t(8;21) has a distinctive immunophenotype, characterized by expression of the myeloid and stem cell antigens CD13, CD15, CD34, and HLADr, and frequent expression of the B-cell antigen CD19 and the neural cell adhesion molecule CD56, a natural killer cell/stem cell antigen. Because CD56 expression has been associated with both extramedullary leukemia and multidrug resistance, we sought to correlate CD56 expression with treatment outcome in AML with t(8;21). Pretreatment leukemia cells from 29 adult de novo AML patients with t(8;21) treated on Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) protocols were immunophenotyped by multiparameter flow cytometry as part of a prospective immunophenotyping study of adult AML (CALGB 8361). CD56 was expressed in 16 cases (55%). There was no correlation between CD56 expression and age, sex, white blood cell count, granulocyte count, the presence of additional cytogenetic abnormalities, or the presence of extramedullary disease at diagnosis. The CR rate to standard-dose cytarabine and daunorubicin was similar for cases with and without CD56 expression (88% v 92%; P = 1.0). Post-CR therapy included at least one course of high-dose cytarabine in 24 of 26 patients who achieved CR; numbers of courses administered were similar in cases with and without CD56 expression. Although post-CR therapy did not differ, CR duration was significantly shorter in cases with CD56 expression compared with those without (median, 8.7 months v not reached; P = .01), as was survival (median, 16.5 months v not reached; P = .008). We conclude that CD56 expression in AML with t(8;21) is associated with significantly shorter CR duration and survival. Our results suggest that CD56 expression may be useful in stratifying therapy for this subtype of AML.     

Philadelphia chromosome-positive secondary acute myeloid leukemia following high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood progenitor cell support for relapsed low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

We report the case of a 47-year-old patient who developed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) 18 months after receiving high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood progenitor cell support (PBPCT) for relapsed low-grade follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Cytogenetic analysis of the leukemic cells showed the translocation (9;22)(q34;q11). In three mitoses, an additional Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1) was present. In the literature, Philadelphia chromosome-positive secondary AML has been described only once before in a patient with multiple myeloma.     

Rocuronium versus succinylcholine: are they equally effective during rapid-sequence induction of anesthesia?

Characteristics of karyotypes were analyzed in de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with trilineage myelodysplasia (AML/TMDS) at initial diagnosis and compared with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) cases that had evolved to AML (MDS/AML). Abnormal karyotypes were seen in 11 of 19 patients with AML/TMDS and 13 of 16 MDS/AML cases. Trisomy 8 was observed in 3 AML/TMDS cases as a sole anomaly and was also present in 3 MDS/AML cases but not as a sole finding. Although MDS/AML frequently displayed monosomies or long-arm deletions of chromosome 5, 7 and 9, only one case exhibited long-arm deletion (of chromosome 7) in AML/TMDS. Two or more chromosome aberrations were found in some cases in both groups. These findings suggest that AML/TMDS had passed through several preleukemic stages at diagnosis, as has been well documented in MDS and MDS/AML. Additionally, clonal evolution may have already occurred in AML/TMDS, as MDS transformed to AML is associated with clonal evolution.     

Ovarian cysts in children and adolescents: their occurrence, behavior, and management

OBJECTIVE: This was a retrospective analysis of cytogenetic data from 600 cases with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) to investigate the features of Ph chromosome and its significance. METHODS: Bone marrow direct method and/or short-term culture were used to prepare the chromosomes and karyotype analysis was performed with R-banding technique. RESULTS: 30 cases (5%) were Ph negative; 570 cases (95%) were Ph positive. 535 cases (93.8%) had standard Ph translocation;34 cases(5.9%) had variant translocation, including 13 cases (2.2%) with simple variant translocation, 13 cases (2.2%) with complex variant translocation and 8 cases (1.4%) with masked Ph chromosome. 526 cases (92.2%) had 100% of Ph positive cells; 44 cases (7.7%) had normal karyotype in partial or all metaphases after treatment such as allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, interferon and pulse hydroxyurea therapy, but conventional chemotherapy had no effect on the percentage of Ph positive cells. 50.6% of Ph positive CML with blast crisis had extra chromosomal abnormalities, of which, the most common ones were +8(46.1%),2 Ph(33.9%) and i(17q) (23%) in descending order. CONCLUSION: These facts indicate that chromosome examinations not only help diagnose and differentiate CML,but also help predict the blast crisis, evaluate the therapeutic effect, and make a cytogenetic classification for CML.     

Hematological malignancies with t(9;11)(p21-22;q23)--a laboratory and clinical study of 125 cases. European 11q23 Workshop participants

This paper reports clinical and cytogenetic data from 125 cases with t(9;11)(p21-22;q32) which were accepted for a European Union Concerted Action Workshop on 11q23. This chromosome abnormality is known to occur predominantly in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) FAB type M5a and less often in AML M4; in this series it was also found to occur, uncommonly, in other AML FAB types, in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (nine cases), in relatively young patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) (five cases), acute biphenotypic leukemia (two cases), and acute undifferentiated leukemia (one case). All age groups were represented but 50% of the patients were aged less than 15 years. The t(9;11) was the sole abnormality in 57 cases with AML; trisomy 8 was the most common additional abnormality (23 cases, including seven with further abnormalities), and 28 cases had other additional abnormalities. Among the t(9;11)+ve patients with AML, the white cell count (WBC) and age group were significant predictors of event-free survival; central nervous system (CNS) involvement or karyotype class (sole, with trisomy 8, or with other), also contributed to prognosis although our data could not show these to be independent factors. The best outcome was for patients aged 1-9 years, with low WBC, and with absence of CNS disease or presence of trisomy 8. For patients aged less than 15 years, the event-free survival for ALL patients was not significantly worse than that of AML patients.     

Cytogenetic clonality analysis: typical patterns in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukaemia

The cell morphology and karyotype of bone marrow samples from 24 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) were studied simultaneously with a combined technique of May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome-specific DNA probes. This enabled us to investigate cell lineage involvement in three malignant conditions: MDS (n = 12), leukaemia-transformed MDS (LT-MDS) (n = 5) and de novo AML (n = 7). In MDS we found blasts and often significant proportions of mature granulocytic and erythroid cells to be cytogenetically abnormal. Percentages of granulocytic and erythroid cells with cytogenetic aberrations were generally less than those of blasts. These data support the involvement of a transformed pluripotent stem cell that has retained maturation abilities. In two patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMMoL) the clonal involvement of monocytes was predominant. Results in the five patients with LT-MDS were similar to those in MDS. In the bone marrow of five of the seven de novo AML patients the cytogenetic abnormalities were restricted to the blasts and did not include the more mature granulocytic or erythroid populations. In the other two patients with AML, both with a t(8;21) and a loss of the Y chromosome, high percentages of mature neutrophils were cytogenetically abnormal. These patterns of clonal lineage involvement in MDS, LT-MDS, t(8;21) AML and AML appear typical and may be of clinical use, for example, for distinguishing LT-MDS from de novo AML in newly presenting patients.     

A case of panpleuropneumonectomy for diffuse pleural mesothelioma

We investigated parental origin of rearranged chromosomes 9 and 22 (9q + and 22q -) in five patients with Ph-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) using the C-banding and silver-staining methods of nucleolus organizer regions, respectively; of rearranged chromosome 21 (21q +) in seven patients with t(8;21)-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML); and of rearranged chromosome 15 (15q +) in six patients with t(15;17)-positive AML. It was found that these rearranged chromosomes can be of either paternal or maternal origin. Although the number of patients examined was small, these results indicate that the genes rearranged as a result of these chromosome translocations (ABL, BCR, AML-1 and PML) are not genomically imprinted.     

Analytical evaluation of the new Prostatus PSA Free/Total assay for prostate-specific antigen as part of a screening study for prostate cancer

A second Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome is one of the most common nonrandom secondary chromosome changes in leukemias with 9;22 translocations. It has been suggested, and observed in two studies of masked t(9;22), that the second Ph chromosome is an exact duplication of the entire derivative chromosome 22. In a cytogenetic study of bone marrow cells from an acute myelogenous leukemia patient, a cell line carrying two different Ph chromosomes evidenced by a chromosome 22 centromeric heteromorphism was found. From this observation arose the question whether the second der(22) was a true Ph chromosome or whether it was a deleted chromosome derived from the normal chromosome 22 that did not contain the bcr-abl rearrangement. A fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) study with the t(9;22) probe revealed two bcr-abl positive signals on 60 of 100 interphase nuclei. The second Ph could have resulted from a mitotic crossing over; or, analogously to late-appearing Philadelphia chromosomes, it may be derived from a new chromatid translocation between the chromosomes 9 and 22 not involved in the initial t(9;22).     

Classification of ninety-eight adult cases of acute leukemia according to morphology, immunology and cytogenetics]

Ninety-eight cases of adult acute leukemia (AL) were diagnosed and classified based on morphologic, immunologic and cytogenetic (MIC) features. The results showed that: the conformity rate of cytomorphologic/cytochemical classification with MIC classification was 90.8%. For ALL, the conformity rate of immunologic classification with MIC classification was 95.6%, but it was only 70.8% for AML. Of the 48 AML, 10 expressed lymphoid lineage, associated antigens and 8 of 43 ALL expressed myeloid lineage-associated antigens. Seven cases were diagnosed as hybrid acute leukemia according to Catovsky criterion. The chromosome aberrations were found in 70 cases, of them 46 cases showed characteristic abnormalities including t(9;22), t(4;11), t(11;14), t(8;12), t(8;14), 6q-, 9p-, and t(15;17), t(8;21), inv(16), etc.     

Secondary leukaemia characterised by monosomy 7 occurring post-autologous stem cell transplantation for AML

Secondary leukaemia has rarely been reported as a complication of autologous stem cell transplantation for AML. We report two cases of AML who presented with well-characterised cytogenetic abnormalities at presentation: t(8;21) and t(15;17) respectively, and who, after achieving complete morphological and cytogenetic remissions post-autograft, developed MDS/AML associated with monosomy 7. This secondary change is most frequently seen following alkylating agent therapy for solid tumours. The secondary leukaemia seen in our patients may thus be due to exposure of the residual stem cells to the alkylating agents used in the transplant conditioning.