Seven patients with acute leukemia and translocation involving band 11q23 have been studied by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using YAC probes spanning the HRX gene. While hybridization signal was split by translocation between the rearranged 11 and the partner chromosomes in five patients, only one signal on the derivative 11 was observed in two patients, one with t(9;11)(p21-22;q23) and the other with t(6;11)(q27;q23). Having shown that HRX was rearranged in these two cases, the distal part of 11q23 was investigated using other YACs containing markers for this region. This showed that a 600-700 kb deletion, distal to the HRX breakpoint cluster region, had occurred in the two cases. This study supports the notion that the 5' end of HRX is the important part in the chimeric genes resulting from 11q23 translocations and suggests that deletions of the 3' part are not uncommon.