A novel human homeobox gene lies at the chromosome 10 breakpoint in lymphoid neoplasias with chromosomal translocation t(10;14).

The translocation t(10;14)(q24;q11) is an acquired change seen in 4% to 7% of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias (T-ALL). We previously demonstrated that the translocation juxtaposes the T-cell receptor (TCR) delta-chain gene in chromosome 14q11 with a novel region in chromosome 10q24 and is likely catalyzed by recombinases normally involved in the generation of immunoglobulin and TCR diversity. We now present the sequence of a gene on chromosome 10 that lies immediately telomeric of the breakpoints in nine new ALL patients with acquired rearrangements in 10q24. The gene is a novel human homeobox gene and is expressed in leukemic cells from ALL patients with rearrangements in a defined chromosome 10 breakpoint cluster region, but not in other adult tissues or cell lines. This new gene has been designated HOX11. Our results strongly support a role for homeobox genes in oncogenesis and may represent the first example of a human cancer in which deregulated expression of an unaltered homeobox gene is involved in tumorigenesis.