Subtle abnormalities in the short arm of chromosome 11 in acute myeloid leukemia

A series of four patients with small deletions of the short arm of chromosome #11 is presented. In two of these patients, deletion of 11p was the sole karyotypic abnormality. When compared with similar reported cases an association with FAB type M4 is apparent. Such cases may often be undocumented, because the deletions can be subtle. One patient with erythroleukemia shows an inversion of chromosome #11 involving band 11p15. Because the patients' fetal hemoglobin (HbF) became raised during the course of the disease, it is postulated that the hemoglobin beta chain gene at 11p15 may have been disrupted.