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Frequency of rare BCR ‐ ABL 1 fusion transcripts in chronic myeloid leukemia patients
Author(s) -
Arun A. K.,
Senthamizhselvi A.,
Mani S.,
Vinodhini K.,
Janet N. B.,
Lakshmi K. M.,
Abraham A.,
George B.,
Srivastava A.,
Srivastava V. M.,
Mathews V.,
Balasubramanian P.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of laboratory hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.705
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1751-553X
pISSN - 1751-5521
DOI - 10.1111/ijlh.12616
Subject(s) - myeloid leukemia , fusion protein , fusion transcript , breakpoint cluster region , abl , cancer research , medicine , imatinib , philadelphia chromosome , fusion gene , fusion , immunology , oncology , biology , chromosomal translocation , tyrosine kinase , genetics , recombinant dna , receptor , gene , linguistics , philosophy
Summary Introduction The hallmark of chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ) is the presence of Philadelphia chromosome, its resultant fusion transcript ( BCR ‐ ABL 1 ), and fusion protein (p210). Alternate breakpoints in BCR (m‐bcr, μ‐bcr, and others) or ABL 1 result in the expression of few rare fusion transcripts (e19a2, e1a2, e13a3, e14a3) and fusion proteins (p190, p200, p225) whose exact clinical significance remains to be determined. Methods Our study was designed to determine the type and frequency of BCR ‐ ABL 1 fusion transcripts in 1260 CML patients and to analyze the prognosis and treatment response in patients harboring rare BCR ‐ ABL 1 fusion transcripts. Results The frequency of various BCR ‐ ABL 1 fusion transcripts was as follows: e14a2 (60%), e13a2 (34.3%), e1a2 (1.2%), e1a2 + e13a2 (2.0%), e1a2 + e14a2 (1.8%), e19a2 (0.3%), and e14a3 (0.3%). CML patients with e1a2 transcripts had higher rates of disease progression, resistance, or suboptimal response to imatinib and failed to achieve major molecular response. Conclusion Characterization of the specific fusion transcript in CML patients is important owing to the difference in prognosis and response to therapy in addition to the conventional need for monitoring treatment response. CML patients with e1a2 transcripts have to be closely monitored due to the high incidence of disease progression and treatment resistance/failure.