Change in a complex translocation involving band 7q34 and 9p- in a case of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma

The authors report a case of T-cell type non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in which neoplastic cells possessed a three-way translocation involving chromosomal bands 3q21, 7q34, and 22q11, as well as partial monosomy of the short arm of chromosome 9. In the literature, most reported cases of 7q32-q36 abnormalities had T-cell type leukemia/lymphoma and were younger than 20 years. Two NHL cases, including the current case, were diagnosed as having lymphoblastic lymphoma with a leukemic transformation. The neoplastic cells of the reported cases commonly showed CD2 (E-rosette receptors) and CD38. All 17 patients but three manifested a mediastinal mass at diagnosis and seven had central nervous system lesions or pleural infiltration. Furthermore, five of the 19 reported cases also showed 9p- change.