SIMULTANEOUS PRESENCE OF T(11-14) AND A VARIANT BURKITTS-TRANSLOCATION IN THE TERMINAL PHASE OF A MANTLE CELL LYMPHOMA

Little is known about the clinical significance of secondary chromosom e aberrations in lymphomas with t(11;14)(q13;q32), the characteristic change of mantle cell lymphomas. Here we present a patient with mantle cell lymphoma, who showed a variant Burkitt's translocation t(2;8)(p1 2;q24) in addition to t(11;14) during the progression of the disease. An involvement of chromosome 8q24, the localization of the c-myc gene, has so far been described in only four patients, who seemed to have a fatal clinical course. Although no blastic transformation occurred in our patient, no remission could be induced by intensified treatment a nd survival was only 5 months. This case demonstrates that secondary c hromosome aberrations can determine the clinical course of patients, e ven if morphologic and immunophenotypic findings fail to predict the p oor outcome.