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SIL-TAL1 rearrangement is common in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), however its prognostic implication remains controversial. To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcome of this subtype in Chinese population, we systemically reviewed 62 patients with newly diagnosed T-ALL, including 15 patients with SIL-TAL1 rearrangement. We found that SIL-TAL1+ T-ALL was characterized by higher white blood cell count (P = 0.029) at diagnosis, predominant cortical T-ALL immunophenotype (P = 0.028) of the leukemic blasts, and a higher prevalence of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS, P<0.001) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC, P<0.001), which led to a higher early mortality (P = 0.011). Compared with SIL-TAL1− patients, SIL-TAL1+ patients had shorter relapse free survival (P = 0.007) and overall survival (P = 0.002). Our NOD/SCID xenotransplantation model also demonstrated that SIL-TAL1+ mice models had earlier disease onset, higher leukemia cell load in peripheral blood and shorter overall survival (P<0.001). Moreover, the SIL-TAL1+ mice models exerted a tendency of TLS/DIC and seemed vulnerable towards chemotherapy, which further simulated our clinical settings. These data demonstrate that SIL-TAL1 rearrangement identifies a distinct subtype with inferior outcome which could allow for individual therapeutic stratification for T-ALL patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]