The translocation t( I I ; I4)(q I3;q32) has been described in a spectrum of B-lymphoproliferative diseases and involves a putative oncogene, BCLI, which maps t o chromosome band I lq13. Recent evidence indicates that this abnormality may delineate particular subtypes of lymphoma, such as intermediate lymphocytic and centrocytic lymphomas. Thus the possible significance of the t( I I ; 14) within B-cell disorders should be reexamined in the light of a more objective approach to classifying these diseases by morphology, histology, and immunophenotype. W e describe 16 patients with t(l 1;14)(qf3;q32) from a series of 90 patients with chronic lymphoid disorders in whom clonal chromosome abnormalities were detected. All the cases were leukemic: prolymphocytic (B-PLL; 4/ I 5 cases), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with increase in prolymphocytes (2/9 cases), or non-Hodgkin lymphoma in leukemic phase, intermediate (3/4 cases), lymphoplasmacytic (2/2 cases), splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes (4/ I8 cases), and follicular (I case). None of the CLL (25) or hairy cell leukemia cases (I 5) had t( I I ; 14).
Our findings showed that t( I I ; 14) occurred in leukemias of mature B cells with lymphoplasmacytic features as judged by morphology and immunophenotype. Genes Chrom Cancer 9158-165 (I 992). ,a 1992 Wiiey-Liss, Inc.