Frequency and Type of Chromosomal Abnormalities in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients in Kuwait: A Six-Year Retrospective Study

Objective: To characterize the frequency of genetic profiles in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients in Kuwait. Subjects and Methods: This review presents the general cytogenetic characteristics of 164 pediatric patients diagnosed as having ALL in a 6-year period. Chromosomal and fluorescence in situ hybridization studies were made on bone marrow aspirates at diagnosis and during different stages of the disease. Results: Recurring aberrations, observed in 123 (75%) patients, included hyperdiploidy (n = 68, 41%), tetraploidy (n = 12, 7.3%), hypodiploidy (n = 2, 1.2%), TEL-AML1 fusion (n = 11, 7%), mixed-lineage leukemia rearrangement (n = 6, 3.6%), t(9;22) (n = 4, 2.4%), t(1;19) (n = 3, 1.8%), t(8;14) or t(8;22) (n = 2, 1.2%), +21 (n = 2, 1.2%), del(6) (n = 2, 1.2%) and miscellaneous abnormalities (n = 9, 5%). The highest observed numerical chromosome abnormality was high hyperdiploidy in 89 patients (54%) with abnormal karyotype while the TEL-AML fusion was the highest observed structural abnormality. Conclusion: This study showed that clonal anomalies detected in pediatric ALL have shown correlations between specific abnormalities and clinicobiological characteristics of the patients.