Array CGH reveals clonal evolution of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is the neoplasm caused by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). We performed oligoarray comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) against paired samples comprising peripheral blood (PB) and lymph node (LN) samples from patients with acute-type ATLL. Results disproved the established theory that true monoclonal proliferation, such as identical clonal expansion in all respects, occurred in acute-type ATLL, and our findings revealed that acute-type ATLL contains multiple subclones with differing genomic aberrations. Oligoarray CGH technology has been developed not only for high-resolution application but also for use in various analyses. Our original analysis is a method of identifying two or more clones with different chromosomal aberrations in one sample. Herein, we describe the analysis and clonal evolution of acute-type ATLL.