TRISOMY-15 ASSOCIATED WITH LOSS OF THE Y-CHROMOSOME IN BONE-MARROW - A POSSIBLE NEW AGING EFFECT

Trisomy 15 as a single autosomal abnormality is a rare finding in hema tological disorders and has not as yet been associated with any specif ic disease type. We report 20 cases of trisomy 15 observed in the bone marrow of patients referred for a suspected hematological malignancy. Most patients were elderly, and a marked male predominance was eviden t. Aneuploidy for the Y chromosome was observed in addition to 15 in 1 1 out of 15 male patients. A myelodysplastic disorder (MDS) was confir med in six cases, and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in one. There was n o evidence of malignant hematological diseases in the remaining 13 pat ients. We propose that there may be an association between loss of the Y chromosome and trisomy 15 and that trisomy 15, like missing Y, may not always be a marker of malignancy, but may reflect an underlying ag e effect. The possibility that ifs presence may herald the development of a malignant condition cannot, ho however; be excluded. (C) Elsevie r Science Inc., 1998