Mutagen exposures and chromosome 3 aberrations in acute myelocytic leukemia

Thirteen patients with acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and with clonal aber rations involving chromosome 3 were studied. Three patients had monosomy 3, four had trisomy 3, and six had structural aberrations of chromosome 3, In the majority of cases chromosome 3 aberrations were parts of complex karyo types, but in two patients, the abnormalities appeared as single aberration s, one as an interstitial deletion del(3)(p13p21) and the other as monosomy 3. All breakpoints of chromosome 3 were found in the fragile site regions 3p14.2, 3q21 and 3q26-27, All patients with monosomy 3 or structural aberra tions of chromosome 3 and one of the four patients with trisomy 3 had been exposed to mutagens, such as occupational exposures to organic solvents and /or petroleum products or treatments with irradiation or antineoplastic age nts. The association among mutagen exposure, structural chromosome 3 aberra tions and fragile sites in AML may indicate that targeting of the mutagens to these sites is of importance for the etiology of the disease.