HUMAN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA - KARYOTYPES IN DIFFERENT LYMPHOCYTE POPULATIONS

Karyotypes of different lymphocyte populations from 10 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) showed two types of chromosome abnormalities. In cultures containing mitogens for T cells (leukoagglutinin (LA)) as well as T and B cells (pokeweed mitogen (PWM); protein A (PA)) random structural aberrations or trisomies were seen. However, one patient had a clone with trisomy 12 in LA- as well as PA-cultured cells. This clone represented about 10-20% of all mitoses, and was observed over a time period of 4 years. Nonrandom rearrangements were found in lipopolysaccharide B (LPS)-stimulated B lymphocytes from one individual in 11 cells analyzed. All these cells had multiple chromosome rearrangements. The cells probably represented a clone, since the karyotype was almost identical in all 11 cells, and the following reciprocal translocations could be identified: t(6;7), t(7;13), and t(11;14). © 1979.