Reversed BCR/ABL rearrangement detected by FISH in Philadelphia negative chronic myelocytic leukemia

We investigated leukemic cells from a patient with chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) and a normal 46,XX karyotype. Molecular studies revealed rearrangement of the M-bcr region and formation of BCR/ABL fusion mRNA with b3a2 configuration. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using the abl probe showed signal on both chromosomes 9 band q34, while the bcr probe hybridized to one chromosome 22 and to one chromosome 9. In this case, as in three other cases recently described (Hagemeijer et al. and Nachava et al.), the bcr/abl rearrangement is shown to be on 9q34, instead of the usual location on 22q11.