Primary plasma cell leukemia mimicking an adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma: a case report.

Background: Malignant plasma cells ofmultiple myeloma (MM), or plasma cell leukemia (PCL), may present highly variable morphologic aspects. Adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATLL) is a peripheral T-cell neoplasm composed of highly pleomorphic lymphoid cells. We report an unusual case ofprimary PCL with misleading cellular morphology and some clinical and biologic similarities simulating ATLL.

Mechanisms of genesis of variant translocation in chronic myeloid leukemia are not correlated with ABL1 or BCR deletion status or response to imatinib therapy.

Many published studies have indicated that various mechanisms could be involved in the genesis of variant chronic myelogeneous leukemia (CML) translocations. These are mainly one-step or two-step mechanisms, associated or not with deletions adjacent to the translocation junction on der(9) or der(22) chromosomes (or both). Based on the mechanism of genesis, it has been suggested that the complexity may affect the occurrence of ABL1 and BCR deletions (either or both), or may be associated with the CML disease course, and thus could determine the response to imatinib therapy.

Two successful pregnancies in a chronic myeloid leukemia patient treated with imatinib.

The number of CML patients in child-bearing age and treated with imatinib is increasing. These women may want to be pregnant or are actually pregnant while on imatinib. Physicians do not know when to stop the treatment and what the risks are for the foetus and the mother.

Abnormalities of the long arm of chromosome 21 in 107 patients with hematopoietic disorders: a collaborative retrospective study of the Groupe Français de Cytogénétique Hématologique.

Chromosome 21 is frequently rearranged in hematopoietic malignancies. In order to detect new chromosomal aberrations, the Groupe Français de Cytogénétique Hématologique collected a series of 107 patients with various hematologic disorders and acquired structural abnormalities of the long arm of chromosome 21. The abnormalities were subclassified into 10 groups, according to the location of the 21q breakpoint and the type of abnormality.

Prognosis of inv(16)/t(16;16) acute myeloid leukemia (AML): a survey of 110 cases from the French AML Intergroup.

Acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) carrying inv(16)/t(16;16) chromosomal abnormalities are associated with a good prognosis. However, studies of this AML subtype have been hampered by the few number of patients reported, frequently collectively considered with those with AML carrying the t(8;21) translocation. We performed a retrospective study in 110 patients with inv(16)/t(16;16) AML (median age, 34 years) prospectively enrolled in 6 trials conducted in France between 1987 and 1998, with the aim to investigate prognostic factors for complete remission (CR) achievement and outcome of CR patients in this AML subtype.

HOX11L2 expression defines a clinical subtype of pediatric T-ALL associated with poor prognosis.

The most frequent oncogenic activation events characterized in childhood T acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) result in the transcriptional activation of genes coding for transcription factors. The main genes are TAL1/SCL, a member of the basic region helix-loop-helix gene family, and HOX11L2, a member of the homeobox-containing protein family. To gain insight into the pathogenesis of this type of hematologic malignancy, we analyzed 28 T-ALL samples.