IGH/c-MYC Translocation, Dual Fusion LPH041 - Detail

The c-MYC/IGH translocation t(8;14) and the variant forms t(2;8)(p13;q24) and t(8;22)(q24;q11) are found in Burkitt's lymphoma and mature B-cell or Burkitt's type Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) ¹. The t(8;14) is found in approximately 75% of patients with Burkitt's lymphoma. While the translocation breakpoints on chromosome 14 are clustered to a narrow region 5' of the intron enhancer of the immunoglobulin heavy chain, the breakpoints on chromosome 8 can occur more than 340kb upstream of c-MYC with no preferential site². The translocations bring c-MYC into close proximity of the IgH enhancer and result in the up regulation of c-MYC³. Over expression of the transcription factor stimulates gene amplification resulting in uncontrolled cell proliferation, which usually occurs in the late event of tumour progression⁴.

Reference:/Bibliographie/Literatur/Bibliografia

1. Berger R and Bernheim A Cancer Genetics Cytogenetics. 1982 Nov;7(3):231-44
2. Joos et al Human Molecular Genetics 1992; 1(8): 625-632
3. Erikson J et al Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Feb; 80(3):820-4.
4. Shou et al PNAS Jan 2000; 97 (1): 228-233