Occurrence of both t(1;19) and t(8;14) in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

While t(1;19) and t(8;14) have been reported singly in pre-B-ALL and Burkitt's lymphoma, respectively, the occurrence of both translocations simultaneously in the same patient is rare. Indeed, a review of the English literature from 1966 to 1999 revealed no case reports with these findings. We report here an 88-year-old patient who was clinically diagnosed to have chronic lymphocytic leukemia and who carried both translocations in her peripheral blood cells. The patient refused to give consent for a bone marrow sample, the preferred tissue for study. The patient's clinical findings are discussed, although the relationship between the clinical information and cytogenetic findings, if any, is not known. Study of additional cases identical to ours will be helpful in determining the correlation, if any, between the patient's phenotype and the occurrence of the two translocations.