Frequent jumping translocations of chromosomal segments involving the ABL oncogene alone or in combination with CD3-MLL genes in secondary leukemias

Seven secondary leukemia patients were treated for solid tumors or malignant lymphoma with anticancer drugs or radiation. We studied bone marrow samples from these patients by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Of the seven patients, three had increased signals for the ABL oncogene (9q34) on interphase nuclei and at metaphase. One of the three patients also had four signals for the CD3 (MLL) region (11q23). Whole painting probes revealed that these chromosomal regions were translocated onto structurally abnormal chromosomes, resulting in partial tri-, tetra- or penta-somy of these regions. We called this type of translocation "segmental jumping translocation (SJT)." SJT of the ABL oncogene was not detected in samples from 15 patients with de novo acute myelocytic leukemia (AML), 12 with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or 20 with chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) at the chronic phase. Furthermore, monosomy 7 was also found in the patients with the gene amplification. These results indicate that SJT of ABL and/or CD3 (MLL) genes is associated with the leukemogenesis of secondary leukemia. The SJT may be one mechanism of gene amplification.