Derivative chromosome 17 in a case of Burkitt lymphoma with 8;14 translocation

A complex chromosome rearrangement present in a B-cell line established fro m a patient with Burkitt lymphoma was studied by using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunocytochemistry techniques. The rearranged ch romosome (der17) was apparently composed of 17q, of a partially deleted 17p , and of other material of chromosome 17p origin that was interspersed with regions without any clear banding pattern, der(17) contained a functional ch17 centromere and two additional centromeres of unknown origin that were inactive by all evidence. By FISH analysis with a TP53 probe, a signal coul d be demonstrated on the normal ch17, but not on the rearranged chromosome, a finding which indicates that 17p deletion caused a concurrent loss of on e of the two TP53 alleles. The marker chromosome was previously observed in some of the malignant cells obtained from the patient's peripheral blood. These observations therefore indicate that cells with this specific rearran gement were generated in vivo and subsequently selected. This rearrangement is likely to have conferred a selective growth advantage to a subclone pre sent in the original malignant cell population. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1999. All rights reserved.