[B cell acute lymphocytic leukemia with marked leukocytosis and t(3;15)(q27;q2?2)]

We report on a 16-year-old boy with B cell acute lymphocytic leukemia presenting marked leukocytosis (388,000/microliter) and resistance to multidrug chemotherapy. Karyotypical analysis revealed a novel t(3;15)(q27;q2?2) chromosomal abnormality. Because 3q27 is known to be a locus of the bcl-6 gene, which is frequently involved in B cell malignancies, molecular biological analyses were performed. Although no rearrangement was detected in 5 genes including bcl-6 on 3q27 and 2 genes on 15q2, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction procedures detected relatively strong mRNA expression of the bcl-6, smrp, dvl3, and tpml genes. These results indicate that immature leukemic cells with CD10 and CD34 positivity and rearrangement of the T cell receptor beta gene may coexist with relatively mature subpopulations that are positive for CD19 and CD20 surface markers, bcl-6 expression, and rearrangement of the gene for immunoglobulin kappa.