Translocation (1;5)(q23;q33) in adult acute non-lymphocytic leukemia

Chromosome banding studies carried out on bone marrow cells from a 57-year-old white caucasian male with an M1 acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) revealed an unbalanced translocation involving chromosomes 1 and 5 [der(5)t(1;5)(q23;q33)] as part of complex abnormalities in 76% of the cells analyzed. This chromosomal abnormality is the first to be reported in an adult patient with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. A review of previous reports on translocations involving the juxtaposition of the 1q23----qter DNA segment to other chromosomes suggests that this new translocation may be specifically involved with abnormal myeloid proliferation.