Author(s)

Gmidène Abir^1*, Wahchi Ines¹, Meksi Sondes¹, Jeddi Ramzi², Meddeb Balkis², Saad Ali¹, Sennana Hlima¹

¹Department of Cytogenetics and Reproductive Biology, Farhat Hached University Teaching Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
²Department of Hematology, Aziza Othmana University Teaching Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia.

Granulocytic sarcoma is a form of acute myeloid leukemia which may occur in any anatomical site. Isolated pancreatic granulocytic sarcoma is however, extremely rare. Translocation t(8;21) is the most common cytogenetic abnormality found in leukemia patients with granulocytic sarcoma and is associated with a relatively good prognosis when treated with chemotherapy. Variants of the t(8;21) are uncommon and account for approximately 3% to 4% of acute myeloid leukemia associated with t(8;21) and are rarely described in acute myeloid leukemia cases associated with granulocytic sarcoma. We report here a patient with acute myeloid leukemia and a novel variant t(8;9;21)(q22;p24;q22) with suspected granulocytic sarcoma in pancreas. A dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis with RUNX1T1 and RUNX1 probes, revealed the presence of an RUNX1/RUNX1T1 fusion signal in this translocation. To the best of our knowledge, a variant of t(8;21) in GS was rarely described and the involvement of the 9q22 region is the first time described here even in isolated AML-M2. We conclude that further accumulation of similar cases is needed and that genetic exploring of variants of t(8;21) may be helpful for a better understanding of molecular pathogenetic mechanism.

Granulocytic Sarcoma, AML-M2, t(8;9;21), Conventional Karyotype, FISH, RUNX1/RUNX1T1

Abir, G. , Ines, W. , Sondes, M. , Ramzi, J. , Balkis, M. , Ali, S. and Hlima, S. (2014) New Variant Translocation (8;9;21)(q22;p24;q22) in a Patient with Granulocytic Sarcoma Concurrent with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Open Journal of Blood Diseases, 4, 43-49. doi: 10.4236/ojbd.2014.44006.