Further evidence for a non-random chromosomal abnormality in acute promyelocytic leukemia

We have previously reported on two patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) who had what appeared to be a deletion of chromosome No. 17. We now describe a third patient with APL. All three patients had a structural rearrangement involving No. 15 and No. 17. Our current interpretation of the chromosomal abnormality is that it is a reciprocal translocation, t (15;17) (q22; q21). Evidence that this is a consistent rearrangement associated with APL comes not only from our three patients, but also from two other published cases of APL, studied with banding, who also had an identical abnormality.