Cytogenetic studies in four cases of alpha chain disease.

Cytogenetic studies were performed in four cases of alpha chain disease. Chromosomal abnormalities were found in the lymphoid cells of the mesenteric lymph nodes of three patients, two of whom had not reached the stage of overt malignant lymphoma. In two instances, a rearrangement of 14q32, resulting from a t(9;14)(p11;q32) and a t(2;14)(p12;q32) was observed. One case showed complex rearrangements including t(5;9). No abnormalities were found in the intestinal tumor of the fourth case with immunoblastic lymphoma. It is concluded that alpha chain disease is a clonal proliferation with frequent alteration of chromosome #14 at band q32 resulting from translocations that differ from those observed in the vast majority of other non-Hodgkin lymphomas.