Multiple chromosomal abnormalities in fulminant anaplastic myeloma

We describe a 58-year-old woman with anaplastic multiple myeloma and multip le chromosomal abnormalities. Her karyotype showed extreme hyperploidy with 77 chromosomes. Some of the aberrations were typical of multiple myeloma ( +3, +5, +15, +19, +21, t(11; 14)(q13; q32)), others were characteristic of the aggressive anaplastic myeloma (+8), t(11; 14)(q13; q32), while three ch romosomal abnormalities (t(11; 20)(p11; q13); t(4; 7)(q31; q11); and t(14; 20)(q24; q13)) have not been, to the best of our knowledge, described previ ously in the literature. The fulminant course of the disease confirms the p oor prognosis of multiple karyotypic abnormalities in myeloma.