Detection of Molecular Variants of BCR-ABL Gene in Bone Marrow and Blood of Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia by Reverse-Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)

CHIRAYU UDOMSAKDI-AUEWARAKUL, M.D., Ph.D.*, YAOWALUK U-PRATYA, M.Sc.*, SIRIKW AN BOONMOH, B.Sc. *, SUMIT VAT ANA VICHARN, M.D., Ph.D.*

Affiliation : * Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University. Bangkok 10700. Thailand.

AbstractVery limited data exists in Thailand regarding the frequency of BCR-ABL leukemic gene and its prognostic implication in Thai CML patients. The objective of this study was to develop a rapid molecular assay for the detection of the two most commonly reported variants of BCR-ABL fusion gene, B2A2 and B3A2 in CML patients. Bone marrow or peripheral blood were used for RNA extraction and reverse-transcribed to eDNA for PCR amplification. 92 per cent of CML patients (91199) were positive for BCR-ABL gene (61% B3A2 and 3lo/c B2A2). 8/99 CML patients were BCR-ABL-negative. B3A2 and B2A2-positive patients did not have any different clinical and hematological features at presentation although B3A2 patients tended to be slightly older and had higher platelet counts. 71171 non-CML including other MPD and leukemia cases were all negative for BCR-ABL gene. In conclusion, a rapid RT-PCR assay has now been deve- loped for the detection of this hallmark gene in CML patients. It should be of great value in the differential diagnosis of CML from other diseases. Long-term follow-ups of CML patients with different variants are needed to determine the prognostic importance of each gene variant.

Keywords : BCR-ABL Gene Variant, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

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