Monosomy 7 and Ph-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: cytogenetic and molecular aspects

A combination of monosomy 7 and translocation t(9;22) (q34;q11), rarely observed in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), is here reported: a peculiarity of this case was that the "breakpoint cluster region" on chromosome 22 was not rearranged, as demonstrated by molecular analysis, and a new c-abl protein (p190) was found, instead of the usual p210 protein usually associated with the Ph chromosome; moreover a rearrangement of c-abl oncogene was found. The clinical course of this patient was, as expected, unfavorable: a few normal metaphases were observed during a short partial remission.