Objective: To investigate the overexpression frequencies of BRE and EVI1, the correlation between BRE and EVI1 expressions and their possible clinical implications in 11q23/MLL rearrangement acute leukemia. Methods: Cytogenetic examination of bone marrow cells was performed by short-term culture method. R-banding technique was used for karyotype analysis. 47 patients were detected by interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with dual-color break apart MLL probe. The expressions of EVI1 and BRE genes were detected by real time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) . The correlation and prognostic significance were statistically tested. Results: 11q23/MLL rearrangements were confirmed by karyotyping and FISH, respectively in 47 patients. According to immunophenotypic analyses of 37 patients, 5 patients showed positive for CD19, CD79a or CD10, 1 for CD7; the others for CD33, CD13, CD14 and CD15, and 16 of them for CD34. Of the 47 patients, 18 patients showed EVI1 overexpression and most of them presented with t (6;11) and M₄/M₅. The EVI1 expression was high in t (6;11) or t (9;11) subgroup comparable with levels observed in normal subgroup (P=0.038, 0.022, respectively) . 15 patients showed high BRE expression, and most of them presented with t (9;11) and M₄/M₅. High BRE expression was found in t (4;11) , t (6;11) , t (9;11) and t (11;19) subgroups, respectively by comparing with normal subgroup. The BRE expression was higher in t (4;11) (P=0.004) or t (9;11) (P=0.012) subgroup than in t (6;11) subgroup. Patients with EVI1 overexpression had a short survival compared with those with low EVI1 expression (P=0.049) and it also did in t (9;11) subgroup (P=0.024) . Patients with t (9;11) and high BRE expression had a long survival compared with those with t (9;11) and low BRE expression (P=0.024) . Conclusion The EVI1 overexpression was significantly frequent in acute leukemia patients with 11q23/MLL rearranged, especially within t (6;11) subgroup and M₄/M₅, which was associated with an inferior outcome. High BRE expression was observed frequently in 11q23/MLL-rearranged acute leukemia especially within t (9;11) subgroup and M₅.

Objective: To study the value of unmethylated cytosine guanine dinucleotide oligodeoxynucleotide (DSP30) and IL-2 in the conventional cytogenetic (CA) detection of the chromosomal aberrations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) . Methods: Bone marrow or peripheral blood cells of CLL patients were cultured with DSP30 plus IL-2 for 72 h, following which R-banding analysis was conducted. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed in 85 patients. CA results were compared with data obtained by FISH. Results: Among 89 CLL patients, the success rate of chromosome analysis was 94.38% (84/89) . Clonal aberrations were detected in 51 patients (51/84, 60.71%) . Of them, 27 (27/51, 52.94%) were complex karyotype. Among 85 CLL patients tested by FISH, chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 74 (74/85, 87.06%) patients, of which 2 (2/74) patients were complex karyotypes, accounting for 2.70%. Of the 85 CLL patients examined by FISH, 50 had abnormal karyotype analysis, 30 had normal karyotype, 5 failed to have chromosome analysis. Among them, 25 cases showed clonal aberrations by FISH assay but normal by CA, and 4 cases were normal by FISH but displayed aberrations in chromosome analysis, and totally 78 (91.76%) cases with abnormality detected by the combination of the two methods. The frequency of 13q- abnormality detected by FISH was significantly higher than that by CA analysis (69.41%vs 16.67%, P<0.001) , while the frequency of 11q-,+12 and 17p- detected by two methods showed no significant difference (P>0.05) . The detection rate of complex abnormalities in conventional karyotype analysis was higher than that in FISH (50.98%vs 2.70%) . In addition, 11 low-risk and 9 intermediate-risk patients according to FISH results showed complex karyotype by cytogenetics, and were classified into high-risk cytogenetic subgroup. Conclusion DSP30 and IL-2 are effective in improving the detection rate of CA in CLL patients (60.71%) and CA is more effective to detect complex karyotype. However, FISH had a higher overall abnormality detection rate (87.06%) than CA, especially for 13q-. The combination of CA and FISH not only enhanced the detection rate of clonal aberrations to 91.76%, but also provided more precise prognosis stratification for CLL patients, thus to provide more information for clinical implication.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether CpG-oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) can improve the detection rate of the karyotypic abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

METHODSThe bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood (PB) cells from 57 cases of CLL were collected and cultured with CpG-ODN DSP30+interleukin-2 (IL-2), phytohemagglutinin (PHA), pokeweed (PWM) or IL-2, respectively. Five days later cells were harvested for chromosome preparation. Karyotypic analysis was done using R banding technique. Panel fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was carried out on 19 cases of CLL with normal karyotypes using the following probes: Cen12, D13S25, Rb1, ATM, p53, MYB and IgH. Genomic DNA from 21 cases of them was extracted from BM or PB leukocytes. The immunoglobulin variable heavy chain (IgVH) was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. CD38 and ZAP70 expressions in the leukemic cells were determined by flow cytometry (FCM).

RESULTSThe detection rate of karyotypic abnormalities in the CpG-ODN+IL-2 group (43.85%) was obviously higher than that in the PHA (15.09%), PWM (17.31%) and IL-2 (3.13%) groups (P<0.01). Fifty-two types of karyotypic abnormalities were found. Among them, trisomy12 (+12) or +12 with other abnormalities were the most common, while translocations were the most frequent structural abnormalities including 3 unbalanced and 11 balanced translocations, among them 7 had rearrangements involving 14q32. Thirteen cases showed one or more abnormalities on FISH including trisomy 12 and p53 deletion each in one case, IgH rearrangement and partial deletion each in one case, 13q14.3 deletion in 11 cases of which 5 cases also had Rb1 deletion, 1 case had Rb1 partial deletion. No case with ATM or MYB deletions was found. PCR detected IgVH mutations in 10/21 cases. FCM showed 10/45 cases were CD38 positive, but 35 /45 were CD38 negative, 11/27 cases expressed ZAP70, but 16/27 did not. Among the 26 cases examined for CD38 and ZAP70 expressions simultaneously, 5 cases were CD38+ZAP70+, 13 were CD38-ZAP70-, 6 were CD38-ZAP70+, and 2 were CD38+ZAP70-, respectively. Statistic analysis showed a correlation between complex karyotype and IgVH without mutation, but no association between karyotype and CD38 or ZAP70 expression was observed.

CONCLUSIONCpG-ODN immunostimulation can obviously raise the detection rate of abnormal karyotypes, especially translocations in CLL. FISH is an important complement to conventional karyotypic analysis. The combination of both methods can provide more comprehensive genetic information for CLL.

Adjuvants, Immunologic ; genetics ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Cells, Cultured ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains ; genetics ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Interleukin-2 ; genetics ; Karyotyping ; methods ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell ; diagnosis ; genetics ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides ; genetics ; immunology ; Phytolacca americana ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo report clinical and laboratory features of 4 cases of myeloid neoplasm with t (5;12) (q33;p13).

METHODSCytogenetic examination of bone marrow cells obtained from patients was performed by 24 h culture method. R banding technical was used for karyotype analysis. PDGFRβ gene rearrangement was detected by FISH using dual color break apart PDGFRβ probe. ETV6-PDGFRβ fusion genes were detected by multiple-reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Direct sequencing analysis was performed on the PCR products in case 1. Immunophenotype analysis was carried out by flow cytometry. Four cases were treated with imatinib (IM) and followed up.

RESULTSThe diagnoses included 3 MPN and 1 AML-M2. The t (5;12) (q33;p13) was a primary abnormality in 3 cases of MPN and a secondary abnormality in 1 case of AML-M2. PDGFRβ gene rearrangement and ETV6-PDGFRβ fusion genes were detected by FISH and multiple-RT-PCR in 4 cases, respectively. The immunophenotypical analysis of leukemia cells showed positive for CD13, CD33 and CD34. Two cases obtained MMR after the treatment of IM, one case complete hematologic and complete cytogenetic response. ETV6-PDGFRβ was negative detected by multiple-RT-PCR after the treatment of IM, but relapsed and died soon in case 4.

CONCLUSIONSThe t (5;12) myeloid neoplasm was a subtype with unique features. The t (5;12) maybe a primary chromosome abnormality in MPN and a secondary in AML. MPN with t (5;12) could benefit from IM, but not for AML. Dual-FISH was a reliable tool for detecting PDGFRβ rearrangement.

Chromosome Banding ; Gene Rearrangement ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; genetics ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Myeloproliferative Disorders ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets ; genetics ; Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; Remission Induction ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; Translocation, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo report on clinical and laboratory features of myeloid neoplasms with double del(20q).

METHODSCytogenetic examination of bone marrow was performed on 13 cases of myeloid neophasms with double del(20q) after 24 hours of cell culture. R-banding was used to analyze the karyotypes. Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed using dual-color probes for 20q11/20q12.

RESULTSDouble del(20q) was found to be the sole abnormality in 9 cases, double del(20q) and trisomy 9 was found in 1 case, trisomy del(20q) was found in 1 case, and sole del(20q) clone and double del(20q) clone were found to coexist in 2 cases. In 10 cases, interphase FISH showed one green and one red signal in cells with del(20q), which indicated deletion of both 20q11 and 20q12. Immunophenotyping of the leukemia cells showed positiveness for CD13 and/or CD33, CD117 in all 9 cases. Among these, co-expression of CD34 and/or HLA-DR was found in 6 cases, and coexpression of CD3 and CD7 was found in 1 case. Of the 13 cases, there were one AML-M6, nine MDS, one pure amegalokaryocye aplastic thrombocytopenia, one with normal morphology of bone marrow, and one undetermined due to dilution of the bone marrow by blood. Cytopenia were found in all cases. 9 of 13 cases died, and 4 survived with a median survival of 9 months.

CONCLUSIONDouble del(20q) is a rare but recurrent chromosomal abnormality derived from del(20q). It has unique clinical and laboratory features, and the prognosis is poor.

Aged ; Chromosome Banding ; methods ; Chromosome Deletion ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; genetics ; Neoplasms ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo report a rare complex karyotypic abnormalities including ins (15;17),t(2;17;20) and trisomy 8 in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

METHODSChromosomes were prepared after 24 h culture of bone marrow cells. R-banding technique was used to analyze the karyotype. Multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization (M-FISH), chromosome painting using whole chromosome parint (WCP) 2, 15, 17 and 20 and interphase-FISH (I-FISH) using PML-RARa dual-colour dual-fusion translocation probe were performed to ascertain the essence and origin of the abnormal chromosomes detected by conventional karyotypic analysis.

RESULTSKaryotypic analysis revealed a karyotype of 47, XY, 2q-, + 8, 17q+ , 20p+ . M-FISH analysis showed a karyotype of 47, XY, t(2;17;20) (q24;q21;p13), + 8, which was confirmed by chromosome painting. PML-RARa fusion gene which lied in the derivative chromosome 15 was detected by I-FISH suggesting a cryptic insertion (15;17)(q22;q21.1q21.3).

CONCLUSIONFISH is a reliable method for characterization of cryptic ins (15;17) and other complex translocations. It should be used in all suspected APL patients lacking t(15;17) by conventional karyotypic analysis.

Chromosomes, Human ; genetics ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Time Factors ; Translocation, Genetic ; genetics ; Trisomy ; genetics

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and laboratory characteristics of 5 patients with myeloid leukemia and t(12;22)(p13;q12). METHODS: Bone marrow cells were cultured for 24 h and analyzed by standard R-banding. Rearrangement of the MN1 gene was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using dual color break-apart MN1 probes. MN1-ETV6 and ETV6-MN1 fusion genes were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). And the products were subjected to direct sequencing. RESULTS: Among the 5 patients, 2 had AML-M0, 2 had AML-M4, and 1 had CMML at the initial diagnosis. t(12;22)(p13;q12) was the primary abnormality among all patients. Rearrangements of MN1 gene were detected by FISH in all patients. MN1-ETV6 and ETV6-MN1 fusion genes were detected respectively in 4 and 3 patients. CONCLUSION t(12;22)(p13;q12) is a rare but recurrent chromosomal abnormality in myeloid leukemia, and is related to poor prognosis. allo-SCT is valuable for patients with t(12;22)(p13;q12).
Chromosome Banding ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 ; Cytogenetics ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Leukemia, Myeloid ; genetics ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion ; Translocation, Genetic