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Characteristics of t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with additional chromosomal abnormality: concomitant trisomy 4 may constitute a distinctive subtype of t(8;21) AML

Leukemia volume 17, pages 731–737 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

t(8;21)(q22;q22) is the most frequently observed karyotypic abnormality associated with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), especially in FAB M2. Clinically, this type of AML often shows eosinophilia and has a high complete remission rate with conventional chemotherapy. t(8;21) AML is also frequently associated with additional karyotypic aberrations, such as a loss of the sex chromosome; however, it is unclear whether these aberrations change the biological and clinical characteristics of t(8;21) AML. To investigate this issue, 94 patients with t(8;21) AML were categorized according to their additional karyotypic aberrations, which were detected in more than three cases, and then morphologic features, phenotypes, expression of cytokine receptors, and clinical features were compared to t(8;21) AML without other additional aberrant karyotypes. t(8;21) AML with loss of the sex chromosome and abnormality of chromosome 9 were found in 27 cases (29.3%) and 10 cases (10.6%), respectively; however, no differences were observed from the t(8;21) AML without other additional karyotypes in terms of morphological and phenotypic features. There was also no significant difference in the clinical outcome among these three groups. On the other hand, trisomy 4 was found in three cases (3.2%) and these cells showed low expressions of CD19 (P=0.06) and IL-7 receptor (P=0.05), and high expressions of CD33 (P=0.13), CD18 (P=0.03), and CD56 (P=0.03) when compared to t(8;21) AML without additional karyotypes. Moreover, all three t(8;21) AML cases with trisomy 4 did not show eosinophilia in their bone marrow and died within 2.4 years. These observations suggest that additional karyotypic aberration, t(8;21) with trisomy 4 is rare, but it may constitute a distinctive subtype of t(8;21) AML.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Drs SI Kageyama, M Masuya, K Ohishi, M Yamaguchi, H Mitani, H Araki, M Sakakura, Y Sugimoto (Second Department of Internal Medicine, Mie University School of Medicine, Mie, Japan); K Kawakami, Y Watanabe (Suzuka Gentral Hospital, Mie, Japan); K Oka (Suzuka Kaisei Hospital, Mie, Japan); T. Sekine (Matsusaka Genaral Hospital, Mie, Japan); K Tsuji, S Tamaki (Yamada Red Cross Hospital, Mie, Japan); T Tsukada, H Kihira (Takeuchi Hospital, Mie, Japan); K, Ikeda (Ise Citizen Hospital, Mie, Japan); M Shikami (The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Aich University School of Medicine, Aich, Japan); I Furuta, M Itou (Shinguu Citizen Hospital); M Nomura (Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine); and H Tsutani (First Department of Internal Medicine, Fukui Medical University, Fukui, Japan).

This work was supported by research grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology and from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Internal Medicine, Mie University School of Medicine, Mie, Japan

    K Nishii, E Usui, N Katayama, F Lorenzo V, K Nakase, T Kobayashi & H Shiku

  2. Second Department of Internal Medicine, Aichi Medical School, Aichi, Japan

    H Miwa

  3. Yamada Red Cross Hospital, Mie, Japan

    M Mizutani

  4. Suzuka Kaisei Hospital, Mie, Japan

    I Tanaka

  5. Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Red Cross Hospital, Osaka, Japan

    K Nasu & H Dohy

  6. Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    T Kyo

  7. Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

    M Taniwaki

  8. First Department of Internal Medicine, Fukui Medical University, Fukui, Japan

    T Ueda

  9. Tokura Hospital, Kyoto, Japan

    K Kita

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Nishii, K., Usui, E., Katayama, N. et al. Characteristics of t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with additional chromosomal abnormality: concomitant trisomy 4 may constitute a distinctive subtype of t(8;21) AML. Leukemia 17, 731–737 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402871

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