[1166] Analysis of Karyotype Complexity and Chromosome Aneuploidy in Burkitt Lymphoma/Leukemia
KE Capocelli, G Kotnis, S Pearson, K Swisshelm, B Greffe, M Wang, N Dirks, X Liang. University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, CO; The Children's Hospital, Aurora, CO
Background: Burkitt lymphoma/leukemia (BL) is an aggressive B-cell neoplasm characterized by medium-sized malignant lymphoid cells, high degree of apoptosis and high mitotic index. Atypical BL is a morphologic variant of BL with greater pleomorphism in nuclear size and shape, and more prominent and fewer nucleoli when compared with classical BL. Although all types of BL show deregulation of the c-myc gene, other cytogenetic features and their associations with different morphology subtypes have not been well investigated. We examined the karyotype complexity and chromosome aneuploidy to investigate if there is any association with morphologic subtypes in BLs.
Design: 37 cases of BL (7 cases of atypical BL, 30 cases of classical BL) with c-myc gene rearrangement and complete cytogenetic karyotype were selected from the pathology archives of The Children's Hospital, Denver and University of Colorado from 1/1999 to 8/2008. The difference of frequency in karyotype complexity (
4 chromosomal aberrations) and chromosome aneuploidy (chromosome # > or < 46) between atypical BL group and classical BL group was analyzed by Fisher's Exact test.
Results:
| Atypical BLs | Classical BLs | P values | |
| Complex karyotype | 4 cases | 5 cases | 0.045 |
| Non-complex karyotype | 3 cases | 25 cases | |
| Aneuploidy | 5 cases | 6 cases | 0.016 |
| Diploidy | 2 cases | 24 cases |
Conclusions: Complex karyotypes and aneuploidy of chromosome are associated with atypical BL. We speculate that complex genetic aberration and aneuploidy of chromosome may play a role in causing pleomorphic morphology of tumor cells in atypical BL. The biologic significance of these findings is under investigation.
Category: Hematopathology
Monday, March 9, 2009 9:30 AM
Poster Session I Stowell-Orbison/Autopsy Award # 175, Monday Morning