Murine radiation myeloid leukaemogenesis: a possible role for radiation-sensitive sites on chromosome 2

There is a paucity of informative data on the potentially important role of specific sites of chromosomal instability in oncogenic processes. Chromosome 2 deletions and rearrangements are known to characterise radiation-induced acute myeloid leukaemia in the mouse. Here we statistically establish a concordance between chromosome 2 breakpoint clusters in these leukaemias and chromosome 2 rearrangements carried at a high in vivo frequency by progeny of irradiated haemopoietic cells. Mechanisms of radiation myeloid leukaemogenesis are discussed with respect to multiple radiation-sensitive sites encoded on chromosome 2 and the possible influence of genomic imprinting on inductive processes.