Cytogenetic survey of 53 Moroccan patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia

We present a cytogenetic survey of chromosome aberrations for 53 Moroccan patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). Our 53 patients were 2 to 70 years old with 31 men and 22 women. The cytogenetic study was performed with the following three methods: first, relative proportion of normal (N) or abnormal (A) metaphases; second, presence of specific or random abnormalities; and third, karyotype complexity. Among 36 patients (67%) with a chromosomal abnormality, 18 (34%) showed a specific aberration. We have found t(9;22) in three patients (5%), chromosome 5 or 7 abnormality in six (11%), del(11)(q23) in three (6%), +21 in four (8%), and +8 in two (4%). Specific translocations associated with FAB type were found: t(8;21) with AML2 in 12 patients (23%) and t(9;11) with AML5 in one (2%). Rare abnormalities were also found: one patient with t(7;21) associated with AML2 and another patient with r(1) ring associated with AML1. We concluded that our study in a Moroccan population confirmed the relation between some specific abnormalities and the FAB classification. We have found a higher incidence for t(8;21) than usually described. Finally, we have identified chromosomal abnormalities t(7;21)(q22;p11) and r(1), rarely described before.