Patients with Fanconi anemia and AML have different cytogenetic clones than de novo cases of AML

Specific cytogenetic clones might distinguish patients with unrecognized Fanconi anemia (FA) who present with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from those with sporadic AML. Cytogenetic reports in literature cases of FA and AML were compared with de novo cases enrolled on CCG-2961. Gain of 1q, gain of 3q, monosomy 7, deleted 7q, gain of 13q, and deleted 20q were more frequent in FA AML; t(8;21), trisomy 8, t(9;11), t(6;9), and inversion 16 were exclusive to de novo AML cases. Observation of the FA AML cytogenetic clonal patterns should raise suspicion of an underlying leukemia predisposition syndrome and influence management. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2012; 59: 922924. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.