Four cases with complex Philadelphia translocations, including one with appearance de novo of a "masked" Ph.

Four cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) with complex Philadelphia (Ph) translocations are described. The first case was that of a 50-year-old woman in the chronic phase of CML. Her leukemic cells showed a complex Ph translocation involving chromosomes #9, #11, and #22 [i.e., t(9;9;22;11)(11qter----11q11::9q11----9q34:: 9p11----9pter;22qter----22q11::9q34?;11 pter----11q11::22q11----22qter)]. In addition to the complex Ph translocation, the leukemic cells contained del(10)(p13). The second case was that of a 21-year-old man whose leukemic cells contained a translocation involving chromosomes #5, #9, and #22 [i.e., t(5;22;9)(q31;q11;q34)], resulting in a "masked" Ph chromosome. The third case was that of a 37-year-old man whose leukemic cells had a complex Ph translocation involving chromosomes #8, #9, and #22 [i.e., t(8;9;22)(q13;q34;q11)]. The fourth patient was a 41-year-old woman diagnosed as having CML in myeloid blastic phase, at which time the first specimen was examined by us. This blood sample showed a karyotype of 45,XX, -9, -17, -22, +mar1, +mar2,9q+. No Ph chromosome was present. A standard Ph translocation was detected in the cells obtained from the spleen, when the patient underwent splenectomy for treatment of the blastic crisis. Subsequent specimens obtained from the blood and bone marrow showed that the leukemic cells contained three clones: 45,XX, -9, -17, -22, +mar1, +mar2,9q+/46,XX, -17, +mar1,t(9;22)(q34;q11)/46,XX,t(9;22)(q34;q11). Cells with the "masked" Ph chromosome were thought to have been derived from the clone with the standard Ph translocation. We postulate that some variant Ph translocations, including those with a "masked" Ph chromosome, may be generated by a stepwise process following the genesis of a standard Ph translocation.