[Association of congenital chromosome abnormalities and malignant diseases]

Chromosome studies were carried out on 112 children with acute leukemia and 10 children with solid tumor. Acquired chromosome abnormalities were identified shown in 52% of patients with hematologic disorders (ALL 40%, ANLL 64%) and in four of 10 patients with non-hematologic disorders. Six patients had a constitutional chromosome aberration: three of them with ANLL and one child with ALL had trisomy 21, an other one with ALL had balanced translocation [t(2;7)] of maternal origin, and one child with Wilms' tumor-anirida syndrome had del(11)(p13). Two Down syndrome children with ANLL had additional acquired karyotypic changes. One of the Down's syndrome patients with ANLL M2 had t(8;21), the karyotype of the leukemic cells was: 47, XY, t(8;21) +21c. The other case with 21;21 centric fusion had hyperdiploidy, extra chromosomes were: +8, +14, +19, +20. It is very important to distinguish acquired and constitutional abnormalities in tumor cells.