Molecular rearrangements of Ph1 chromosome, the hallmark of CML, are clustered in a 5.8-kb DNA segment, the so-called breakpoint cluster region (bcr) of the phl gene that is localized to chromosome 22q11. In Ph1-positive (Ph1+) ALLs, the rearrangements have been shown to involve either the 5.8-kb bcr (called bcr+) or a region upstream of bcr in the 5' end of the phl gene (bcr-). To gain insight into the rearrangements occurring in Ph1+ acute leukemias, a 64-kb DNA fragment from the 5' end of phl was analyzed in order to generate molecular probes covering 40 kb of the phl gene first intron. A panel of seven cases of bcr-Ph1+ acute leukemia (three nonlymphocytic and four lymphocytic) was investigated with these intron 1-derived probes. Strikingly, in six of the seven leukemias, the breakpoints were located in a 10.8-kb DNA segment, defining a new bcr which appears to be specific for Ph1+ acute leukemias. By analogy with the CML bcr region located in the 3' part of the phl gene, we propose to designate this 10.8-kb fragment bcr2.