Clinical and laboratory studies of 17 patients with acute myeloid leukemia harboring t(7;11)(p15;p15) translocation.

The cellular and molecular genetic aberrations of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues are increasingly important in leukemia classification and are prognostically significant. Although some recurrent molecular cytogenetic abnormalities in AML have been extensively studied, others including t(7;11)(p15;p15) have not been well characterized. In this paper, seventeen AML patients with t(7;11)(p15;p15) were retrospectively reviewed for cell morphology, immuno-phenotype, cytogenetics as well as clinical features and prognosis. Among them, thirteen were female; nine were AML-M2. Six patients who were newly diagnosed were alive, one was lost for followed up and ten died. The median survival was 8 months. Taking together, AML with t(7;11)(p15;p15) is a rare and distinct disease. Most patients with this translocation are female at younger age and have special clinical and hematological characteristics such as M2-subtype of AML, easy to relapse and poor prognosis.