Cytogenetic follow-up of patients with nonlymphocytic leukemia. II. Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

Bone marrow (BM) karyotypes of 86 patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) were studied at the time of diagnosis: 39 of them (45%) were normally diploid and 47 (55%) showed acquired abnormalities. The median survival was no longer in the diploid group than in the aneuploid one. Nonrandom aberrations were often found: trisomy 8 (15 times), monosomy 7 (7 times), and t(8;21) (7 times). Two patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia presented with the t(15;17) in BM cells. Serial cytogenetic studies performed in 17 cases showed that karyotypic evolution closely followed the clinical evolution. Complete remission, obtained in 10 cases, was characterized by BM metaphases with a normal karyotype. Relapse after a period of complete remission was documented four times; the BM metaphases then showed the original abnormal karyotype with additional changes that, in three cases, were limited to a new structural aberration.