Association of cytogenetic abnormalities with detection of BCR-ABL fusion transcripts in children with T-lineage lymphoproliferative diseases (T-ALL and T-NHL).

Detection of Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) in childhood T-lineage acute lymphoproliferative disorders is a rare event. Additional cytogenetic abnormalities are particularly uncommon in ALL. We here report two cases with T lineage acute lymphoproliferative disorders (T-ALL and T-NHL) presenting with both cytogenetic alterations and BCR-ABL fusion transcripts, associated with an aggressive presentation and a poor outcome. We point out firstly on the cytogenetic aberrations, supporting the hypothesis of multi-lineage involvement of ALL expressing Ph chromosome; secondly, on the persistence of T-cell leukemic clone detected by minimal residual disease (MRD) analysis, despite of the early disappearance of BCR-ABL fusion transcript. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.