Acute lymphoblastic leukemia of Burkitt's type (L3-ALL) without chromosome abnormality and lacking surface and cytoplasmic immunoglobulins.

A case of heterogeneous acute lymphoblastic leukemia of the Burkitt type (L3-ALL) is reported. A 58-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of palpitation and shortness of breath in December 1988. On admission, the peripheral blood showed severe pancytopenia. The bone marrow was hypercellular with abnormal lymphoblasts; the cytoplasm was moderately abundant and intensely basophilic with prominent vacuoles. A diagnosis of L3-ALL was made. Cytogenetic analysis of bone marrow cells revealed a karyotype of 46,XX. The leukemic blasts were HLA-DR+, CD10+, CD19+ and CD20+, but no surface or cytoplasmic immunoglobulins were detected. This is the first report in Japan of a case of L3-ALL without chromosome abnormality and lacking surface and cytoplasmic immunoglobulins.