[A cell-line with 27 chromosomes in a human acute leukemia (author's transl)]

Chromosomal analysis of the bone-marrow aspirate of a five years old girl suffering acute leukemia revealed a cell-line carrying 27 chromosomes. Banding by controlled heating denaturation showed that, in these cells, all chromosomes are haploid, except chromosomes: X, 10, 18, 21. This cell-line, not seen during remission, was found during relapse, in addition to another one with 54 chromosomes. The caryotype of this last clone corresponded to the duplication of the chromosome set found in the first cell-line. The authors discuss two problems: the possible correlations between the clinical evolution and the biological data; the problem raised by the survival and proliferation of such an hypodiploid cell-line.