COMPLEX CYTOGENETIC AND IMMUNOPHENOTYPIC ABERRATIONS IN A PATIENT WITH SEZARY-SYNDROME

Sezary syndrome is defined as the leukemic variation of cutaneous T-ce ll lymphomas. Here we describe the cytogenetic pattern of peripheral T -cells of a 50-year-old male patient suffering from this disease. We u sed Giemsa-banding (G-banding) technique and a fluorescence in situ hy bridization (FISH) assay to determine cytogenetic changes affecting 15 different chromosomes. The cells displayed an abnormal hypodiploid ka ryotype with a prominent insertion located at the short arm of chromos ome 1. Unbalanced translocations were observed involving chromosomes 4 and 14. Besides other abnormalities we defected a 6q- deletion. These multiple genetic changes may reflect the high aggressivity of the neo plastically transformed T-ceIl population and the poor response to che motherapeutic treatment.