Sequence of centromere division in bone marrow cells of patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia

An abnormal and highly variable centromere separation sequence was found in bone marrow mitoses of 20 patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML). The most conspicuous alterations were the less frequent early separation of chromosome #3 in Ph-negative cases and the relatively late division of the X chromosome in the leukemic patients. The findings did not confirm an out-of-phase centromere division of chromosome #22 in CML.