Characteristic chromosomal abnormalities in biopsies and lymphoid‐cell lines from patients with burkitt and non‐burkitt lymphomas

Abstract

The karyotypes of cells from 10 Burkitt lymphoma (BL) biopsies, eight cell lines established from BL and nine cell lines from non-BL sources were studied by chromosome banding techniques. With the exception of the BL-derived cell lines BJAB, GC-BJAB, Maku and U-8691 all biopsies and lines of Burkitt origin contained an extra band at the distal region of the long arm of one chromosome 14. An extra band on chromosome 14 was also found in cells of one non-BL biopsy, in cells from a lymphosarcoma-derived cell line and in a long-established cell line derived from the pleural exudate of a patient with Hodgkin's disease. A distal region at the long arm of one chromosome 8 was missing in all metaphase figures of good technical quality in the same material. The size, morphology and stain-ability of the missing region corresponded fairly well to the extra region at chromosome 14. We therefore suggest that the chromosome 14 marker represents a translocation between chromosomes 8 and 14,t (8q-; 14q+). The translocation was present neither in lymphocytes of the peripheral blood of five Burkitt patients nor in five lymphoblastoid cell lines of non-BL origin. Trisomy 7 was found in two of the 10 BL biopsies, in two BL-derived cell lines, in one non-BL biopsy, in two lymphosarcoma-derived cell lines and in one cell line derived from a patient with Hodgkin's disease.

Epstein–Barr virus promotes genomic instability in Burkitt's lymphoma

“…These aberrations are generated in individual cells and are not transmitted to the progeny as damaged chromosomes and fragments cannot properly segregate during mitosis. Random chromosomal aberrations were previously described in BL cells (Zech et al, 1976;Zimonjic et al, 2001;Karpova et al, 2006) and were attributed to the capacity of c-Myc to induce genomic instability (Potter and Marcu, 1997). Our data support the predicted role of c-Myc as unstable chromosomal aberrations were detected in EBVÀ BL cells.…”

Translocations involving 8q24 in Burkitt lymphoma and other malignant lymphomas: a historical review of cytogenetics in the light of todays knowledge

“…In 1972, Manolov and Manolova 4 reported a marker band at the end of chromosome 14. Zech et al 5 were the first to suggest that a translocation event occurred between the telomeric end of the long arm of chromosome 14 and the telomeric end of the long arm of chromosome 8. Variant translocations towards 2p and 22q were described in BL cell lines in 1979.…”

Burkitt-type lymphoma in France among non-Hodgkin malignant lymphomas in Caucasian children

“…BL is also a cytogenetic entity: in 4 of our cases, the tumour cells were studied by banding techniques, and 3 translocations of (8;14) and one variant translocation, t (8;22), were found (Bertrand et al, 1981). The 8; 14 translocation, initially reported in African cases as a 14q + (Manolov & Manolova, 1972), has been found in most non-endemic BLs (Zech et al, 1976). Two variant translocations, t (2 ;8) and t (8 ;22), were then described in both endemic and non-endemic BL (Bernheim et al, 1981).…”