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The (4;11) translocation in acute leukaemia of childhood: the importance of additional chromosomal aberrations
Author(s) -
SeckerWalker Lorna M.,
Stewart Elizabeth L.,
Chan Li,
O'Callaghan Una,
Chessells Judith M.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1985.tb04065.x
Subject(s) - chromosomal translocation , medicine , incidence (geometry) , myeloid , biology , genetics , physics , gene , optics
S ummary . Case reports of four girls and one boy with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and t(4;11) are presented. The incidence of t(4;11) ascertained at diagnosis in ALL was 2.6% and in AML 5.3%. Four of the children were under 2 years and one was 11 years at diagnosis. Leucocyte counts above 71 × 10 9 /1 and liver, spleen and node enlargement were found in all cases. Blasts of the four cases tested at diagnosis were negative to the c‐ALL antigen and either TdT + (ALL) or TdT ‐ (AML M1). Maximum survival was less than 8 months. Additional chromosomal change was found at diagnosis in two cases and in relapse in a third. In the case of AML t(4;11) (q21;p15) was present as a second translocation. Additional numerical changes, in these and other reported cases, included +6, commonly found in ALL, +8, +19, more often reported in AML. It is suggested that additional chromosomal changes in these cases support cytochemical and surface marker evidence that t(4;11) has a pluripotent target cell, similar to that of the Philadelphia translocation.