Chromosome 21 tandem repetition and AML1 (RUNX1) gene amplification

In two patients with hematological neoplasias a tandem repetition of chromosome 21 in the bone marrow was revealed by cytogenetic analysis. The disease was different in the two patients: one was of the lymphoid type, acute lymphoblastic leukemia type L1, and the other was of the myeloid type, acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia type M2. In one case this chromosomal abnormality resulted in amplification of the AML1 gene (HUGO nomenclature: RUNX1), whereas in the other case the AML1 gene was not included in the tandem repetition, showing that apparently similar cytogenetic aberrations may be different at the molecular level.