Translocations involving an MYC gene (c >> N >>L) are very late tumor progression events and provide a paradigm for secondary translocations in multiple myeloma. Using a combination of fluorescent in situ hybridization and comparative genomic hybridization arrays (aCGH), we have identified rearrangements of an MYC gene in 40 of 43 independent myeloma cell lines. A majority of MYC translocations involve an Ig locus (IgH > Iglambda >> Igkappa), but the breakpoints only infrequently occur near or within switch regions or V(D)J sequences. Surprisingly, about 40% of MYC translocations do not involve an Ig locus. The MYC translocations mostly are nonreciprocal translocations or insertions, often with the involvement of three chromosomes and sometimes with associated duplication, amplification, inversion, and other associated chromosomal abnormalities. High-density aCGH analyses should facilitate the cloning of MYC breakpoints, enabling the determination of their structures and perhaps elucidating how rearrangements not involving an Ig gene cause dysregulation of an MYC gene.

Background: A high proliferative capacity of tumor cells usually is associated with shortened patient survival. Disruption of the RB pathway, which is critically involved in regulating the G1 to S cell cycle transition, is a frequent target of oncogenic events that are thought to contribute to increased proliferation during tumor progression. Previously, we determined that p18INK4c, an essential gene for normal plasma cell differentiation, was bi-allelically deleted in five of sixteen multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines. The present study was undertaken to investigate a possible role of p18INK4c in increased proliferation of myeloma tumors as they progress.

Using a series of yeast artificial chromosomes (YAC) from the 8p11‐12 chromosome region, we have analyzed a t(8;22) translocation present in two patients suffering from acute leukemia by using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). We have identified a YAC that spans the breakpoint in both cases. Genes Chromosom Cancer 15:191–194 (1996). © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.