Hypocellular acute promyelocytic leukemia with a tetraploid clone characterized by two t(15;17).

We describe a case of hypocellular acute promyelocytic leukemia with a tetraploid clone characterized by two t(15;17). The large leukemia cells had a bizarre nuclear configuration and multiple Auer rods. A bone marrow biopsy specimen revealed a markedly hypocellular marrow (<10% cellularity) in the absence of myelofibrosis. Myelodysplastic features were not detected. Chromosome analysis of marrow cells revealed a karyotype of 92,XXYY,del(2)(q?),t(15;17)(q22;q21)x2. Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that the marrow cells were composed of a tetraploid clone carrying double t(15;17) and normal diploid cells. The leukemia responded well to all-trans retinoic acid. We think that the tetraploidy could be caused by endoreduplication or endomitosis of the diploid clone with single t(15;17). The unique karyotype largely contributed to the cell morphology and marrow hypoplasia, while it may not have affected on the prognosis of the acute promyelocytic leukemia.