Objective: To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) bearing 19p13 abnormalities.
Methods: The morphologic, immunophenotypic, cytogenetic, and clinal features as well as prognosis of 16 ALL patients with 19p13 abnormalities were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical features and laboratory findings between t(1;19) and der(19) groups were compared.
Results: Sixteen (4.02%) out of 398 ALL patients had 19p13 abnormalities, among them 15 cases were t( 1;19) (q23;p13) [balanced t(1;19) (q23; p13) in 8 and unbalanced der(19) t(1;19) (q23;p13) in 7] and 1 case t(17;19) (q22;p13). The WBC count and blast cell number were higher in the t(1;19) group. The prognosis was better in der(19) t(1;19) group than in balanced translocation t(1;19) group.
Conclusion: The 19p13 abnormality is one of the non-random chromosomal aberration in patients with ALL. ALL patients with 19p13 abnormalities have unique clinical features and poor prognosis.