Clathrin assembly lymphoid myeloid leukemia-AF10-positive acute leukemias: a report of 2 cases with a review of the literature

Korean J Lab Med. 2010 Apr;30(2):117-21. doi: 10.3343/kjlm.2010.30.2.117.

Abstract

The translocation t(10;11)(p13;q14q21) has been found to be recurrent in acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemias, and results in the fusion of the clathrin assembly lymphoid myeloid leukemia (CALM) gene with the AF10 gene; these genes are present on chromosomes 11 and 10, respectively. Because the CALM-AF10 rearrangement is a rare chromosomal abnormality, it is not included in routine molecular tests for acute leukemia. Here, we describe the cases of 2 patients with the CALM-AF10 fusion gene. The first patient (case 1) was diagnosed with T-cell ALL, and the second patient (case 2) was diagnosed with AML. Both patient samples showed expression of the homeobox A gene cluster and the histone methyltransferase hDOT1L, which suggests that they mediate leukemic transformation in CALM-AF10-positive and mixed-lineage leukemia-AF10-positive leukemias. Both patients achieved complete remission after induction chemotherapy. The first patient (case 1) relapsed after double-unit cord blood transplantation; there was no evidence of relapse in the second patient (case 2) after allogenic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Since CALM-AF10- positive leukemias have been shown to have poor prognosis with conventional therapy, molecular tests for CALM-AF10 rearrangement would be necessary to detect minimal residual disease during follow-up.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Bone Marrow / pathology
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11
  • Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation
  • Female
  • Histone Methyltransferases
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / genetics
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / metabolism
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / diagnosis
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / genetics*
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / therapy
  • Male
  • Monomeric Clathrin Assembly Proteins / genetics*
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics*
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / diagnosis
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics*
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / therapy
  • Recurrence
  • Transcription Factors / genetics*
  • Translocation, Genetic

Substances

  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • MLLT10 protein, human
  • Monomeric Clathrin Assembly Proteins
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
  • PICALM protein, human
  • Transcription Factors
  • Histone Methyltransferases
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase