A case of acute myeloid leukemia with novel translocation t(6;11)(p22.2;q23) and concurrent insertion ins(11;9)(q23;p21.3p21.3)

Abstract

We describe the case of a boy with acute myeloid leukemia with translocation t(6;11)(p22.2;q23) and insertion ins(11;9)(q23;p21.3p21.3). Translocation t(6;11)(p22.2;q23) involving the short arm of chromosome 6 has not been previously described. The LDI-PCR showed the presence of KMT2A-MLLT3 fusion and identified the BTN3A1 (butyrophilin subfamily 3 member A1) gene on 6p22.2 as the other KMT2A translocation partner. The BTN3A1 gene has never been described in the context of acute leukemia. Although this fusion is out of frame, as the antisense strand of BTN3A1 is fused to the sense strand of KMT2A, the loss of heterozygosity of the BTN3A1 gene might contribute to the malignancy of leukemic cells.