Cytogenetic Findings in Erythroleukemia

Cytogenetic studies of marrow cell lines were done in 10 cases of erythroleukemia and in 6 cases of potentially preleukemic refractory megaloblastic anemia. Abnormalities consisting of aneuploidy, increased polyploidy and chromosome breakage were found in 9 cases, 6 in the erythroleukemia group and 3 in the refractory anemia group. Observations in these cases support the concept that erythroleukemia is a clinical variant of acute granulocytic leukemia. They also indicate that marrow chromosome analysis can assist in the diagnosis of cases where leukemia is suspected but not clinically proven.