Cytogenetic Abnormalities in Acute Leukemia Patients from Occupied Palestine

Abstract

Cytogenetic data in acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia are important for diagnosis, therapy design, and prognosis. This is the first report of a series of cytogenetic studies on patients with acute leukemia from central Palestine compared with data from other geographic areas. Cytogenetic analysis was done on 45 patients with acute myeloid leukemia and 111 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Bone marrow samples were collected from all patients and cultured for 24 hours. Metaphase chromosomes were banded by GTG conventional banding technique and karyotyped. Forty five acute myeloid leukemia cases referred for cytogenetic studies showed a male to female ratio of 1.6:1, 71.1% were above 18 years old, and 28.9% had an abnormal karyotype. Of the 111 cases referred with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 37.8% were 2-6 years old, male to female ratio was 1.2:1, 54.1% were of B-cell and 12.6% T-cell lineage (others undetermined). ALL age distribution in our cases were tri-modal with three peaks of incidence; one from 2 to 6 years, a second from 14-17, and a third from 49-64. Of the ALL cases, 32.4% had abnormal karyotype with a mix of interesting abnormalities falling under three categories: pre-B, B, and T cell ALL. Some differences with the literature were noted in cytogenetic findings and age distribution between our data and that from other countries, which likely reflect either referral differences or ethnic and environmental differences.