Unbalanced translocation (1;7) and inversion 16 in a patient with acute myelocytic leukemia

Pericentric inversion of chromosome 16 has been delineated as a characteristic chromosome abnormality of acute myelomonocytic leukemia with abnormal eosinophils and a favorable prognosis. By contrast, unbalanced translocation (1;7) has been reported as frequently associated with therapy-related leukemia, and patients with this karyotypic abnormality are susceptible to severe infections which lead to a poor prognosis. Here we report the first case of acute myelocytic leukemia in which the complexed chromosomal aberrations of der(7)t(1;7)(cen;cen) and inv(16) were found simultaneously in the patient's leukemia cells. Eosinocytosis has not been observed so far, but life-threatening pneumonia developed during the remission induction therapy.