Mixed lineage leukemia with cytogenetically unrelated abnormal clones

We present a case of acute leukemia with morphologic, cytochemical, and immunophenotypic markers indicating that the population of blasts have characteristics of lymphoid and myelomonocytic origin. The cytogenetic study revealed the following mosaic abnormal karyotype: 46XX,dup(1)(q21----32)/46,XX,dup(11)(q13----25)/47,XX,trip(11) (q13----25),+der(17)t(17;?) (q24;?). The two clones involving #11 are obviously related. It is reasonable to assume that the third clone is an evolutionary result of the second one. Because no cytogenetic similarities were found among the first clone and the other two, we suggest that this mixed leukemia was of biclonal origin. To our knowledge, acute leukemia with mixed lineage characteristics and with the simultaneous presence of cytogenetically unrelated clones has not previously been reported.

Karyotypic abnormalities of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity

The karyotypic abnormalities in 18 squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity were studied in unbanded chromosomes on direct preparations of the tumor material. The chromosome counts revealed a great variability in the number of chromosomes per cell of each tumor, the range being from 31 to 148 in all cases studied. The modal population of cells was diploid in five cases, triploid in eight cases, tetraploid and pentaploid in one case each. Reduction of the number of chromosomes was more consistently observed in groups A and B, frequently involving chromosome No 1 and increases in groups C, D, E, F and G. Markers were frequently present, the most common being an almost metacentric chromosome of the size of the chromosomes of Group C.