A 13 year-old boy presented with Burkitt's type acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Studies of immune markers on his lymphoblasts suggest they have reached a fairly advanced level of differentiation with in the B-cell lineage. Presence of 1q+ and 8q- chromosomes suggest an unusual (1;8) translocation and is in agreement with current concepts concerning the frequent chromosome 8 changes in B-ALL.