Presence of Clonal Chromosome Abnormalities in Virtually All Cases of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

To the Editor: The ability to identify chromosomal changes in neoplastic cells has had an enormous impact on the diagnosis and classification of the leukemias. Recently, Yunis¹ has reported data indicating that nearly all cases of acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia have clonal chromosome abnormalities. This result, obtained with a high-resolution banding technique, is at odds with the 59 to 85 per cent prevalence rates reported for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.^{2 3 4} We wish to call attention to a direct bone marrow chromosome technique that was developed expressly for the study of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.⁵ Use of this method has permitted identification of . . .