Commentary on and reprint of Rowley JD, A new consistent abnormality in chronic myelogenous leukaemia identified by quinacrine fluorescence and Giemsa staining, in Nature (1973) 243:290–293

Abstract

Cells from nine consecutive patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) have been analyzed with quinacrine fluorescence and various Giemsa staining techniques. Duplicate karyotypes were prepared according to the Chicago and Paris nomenclature from photographs of quinacrine fluorescence and Giemsa-stained cells in metaphase. The mechanism for the production of such a specific chromosomal translocation is not clear. The apparent frequency of metacentric marker chromosomes occurring at the time of acute blast crisis and involving the long arm of chromosome remains an enigma. Analysis of cells from a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia not only permitted identification of the chromosomes involved in a translocation, but also pointed to the sites of chromosomal breakage. Patients with CML having cells with the Ph chromosome fare better clinically than patients who do not have this abnormality. This makes accurate karyotyping of cells from leukemic patients difficult and sometimes impossible. Nevertheless, in the present study using quinacrine fluorescence and Giemsa stains, additional findings have emerged. The loss of chromosome in meningiomas has been confirmed with fluorescence techniques.