NONRANDOM CHROMOSOME REARRANGEMENTS IN ADENOID CYSTIC CARCINOMA OF THE SALIVARY-GLANDS

The chromosomal findings in 10 adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC) of the salivary glands are described. Clonal numerical deviations as the sole anomaly were detected in four cases and structurally rearranged steml ines and sidelines in four cases. An apparently identical t(6;9)(q23;p 21) was found in two tumors; in one case the translocation was part of the abnormal stemline and in the other case it was the sole anomaly i n a single variant cell. A similar or identical t(6;9)(q21-24;p13-23) has recently been reported in three of 15 previously published cases o f ACC. The three remaining tumors with abnormal stemlines all had rear rangements of chromosome 9, including t(1;9)(q21;p21-22), der(9)i(9)(q 10)inv(9)(q12q13), and der(X)t(X;9)(p21;p22-23), respectively. The lat ter case also had a t(17;18)(p12;q11.2) that was common to both abnorm al clones present in this tumor. In addition to other abnormalities, t he clone with der(X)t(X;S) also showed a del(6)(q13q21). In two cases fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used for further charact erization of the marker chromosomes. A survey of the present findings together with previous results from 15 ACC clearly demonstrates that r earrangements of 6q21-24 (deletions or translocations in II cases), 9p 13-23 (translocations in seven cases), and 17p12-13 (translocations in three cases) are recurrent, and often primary, in ACC, and that the t (6;9)(q21-24;p13-23), found in five tumors, is a non-random, primary a berration. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.