JUMPING TRANSLOCATIONS IN LEUKEMIA

Jumping translocations are an unusual phenomenon and have been rarely reported in leukemia. We report three patients whose leukemic cells ha d multiple related clones resulting from unbalanced jumping translocat ions of 1q and 7q to chromosomes 1, 8, 15, 21 and 22. The chromosome f indings, together with limited published reports, suggest that jumping translocations are new non-random rearrangements and may represent po or prognostic biological markers. Although their origin is unknown, ci rcumstantial evidence suggests that telomeric ends of receptor chromos omes may play a role in stabilizing jumping translocations in dividing malignant cells.