8;21 translocation and multilineage involvement

The translocation (8;21)(q22;q22) is commonly associated with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) M2 according to the French-American-British (FAB) classification. We describe 11 cases of t(8;21) diagnosed by strict FAB criteria. Six cases were diagnosed as AML M2, 3 cases as AML M4, 1 case as refractory anemia with excess of blasts in transformation, and 1 case as Philadelphia chromosome negative chronic myeloid leukemia in acceleration. Translocation (8;21) could thus occur in a wider variety of hematological abnormalities. Accordingly, we propose that t(8;21) may involve different hemopoietic lineages.