[Clinical and experimental studies on five cases of acute myeloid leukemia with translocation t(16;21)(p11;q22)].

OBJECTIVE: To report five cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(16;21)(p11;q22) translocation and the result of chromosome painting analysis on one of them. METHODS: Chromosome specimens were prepared by short-term culture of bone marrow cells. Karyotype analysis was made by R-banding technique. Chromosome painting was performed using whole chromosome probes 16 and 21 in 1 case. RESULTS: Karyotype analysis showed identical translocation t(16;21)(p11;q22) in all five cases, accounting for 0.3% of 1448 cases of acute myeoid leukemia examined in the past fifteen years. Moreover, chromosome painting distinctly demonstrated t(16;21) in one of them. Leukemia blasts did not show hemophagocytosis in all of them. CONCLUSION: t(16;21) translocation is a rare and recurring chromosome rearrangement. It represents a specific type of AML. Chromosome painting technique is a more reliable means for detecting it, compared with the conventional karyotype analysis.