Two cases of AML (M2) with a t(8;19)(q22;q13): a new cytogenetic variant

"Simple" variants of the t(8;21) translocation involving chromosome 8 and a chromosome other than number 21 are rare. To our knowledge, only t(3;8)(q29;q22), t(8;11)(q22;q13), t(8;16)(q22;q24), t(8;20)(q22;p13), and t(8;22) have been reported in the literature. This paper describes for the first time two patients with acute myelogenous leukemia with a consistent t(8;19)(q22;q13) translocation. Their myelograms were compatible with the FAB-M2 subtype. The blasts from case 2 expressed CD34, CD33, CD13, and CD19. Karyotype analyses were performed on bone marrow cells using R- and G-banding at presentation. A t(8;19)(q22;q13) translocation was found in 28/30 metaphases for case 1 and in 23/25 metaphases for case 2. The latter case also had a deletion of chromosome 9, del(9)(q12q22) as an additional abnormality. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction study revealed no AML1/ETO fusion transcript in case 2. Dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay using two probes (BAC92 and YAC412A4) convincingly demonstrated that the chromosomal material from 8q was translocated onto 19q rather than 19p in case 2. Thus, we consider t(8;19)(q22;q13) a true "simple" variant of t(8;21), and assume that a fusion gene resulting from the t(8;19) may contain the ETO gene located at 8q22 and an unknown partner gene from 19q13, which probably is a new transcription factor, whose molecular entity warrants further study.