Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: Is terminal del(14)(q24) a new marker for prognostic stratification?

In a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) molecular cytogenetics showed terminal del(14)(q24). Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) narrowed the deletion to a 35 megabases DNA segment, with the proximal breakpoint between two partially overlapping clones, RP1-116J24 and RP5-1119N5. Besides loss of material at 14q24-qter, comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) showed loss of 3p21.3-pter, 4p11-p15.1, 8p12-pter, 13q12-q14, and 15q11-q15, and gain of 3q25-qter. Del(13)(q12-14) included the RB-1 gene but not D13S319 and D13S25 loci. The patient was refractory to fludarabine and rituximab.Our findings and data from other reports suggest del(14)(q24) is indicative of aggressive course and is closely associated with del(13)(q14) in CLL.