title: Detection of Philadelphia chromosome-positive cells by the polymerase chain reaction following bone marrow transplant for chronic myelogenous leukemia.
abstract: Sixteen patients treated by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) were evaluated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for bcr/abl-specific RNA transcripts at various time points after BMT. In reconstitution experiments, one CML cell per million normal mononuclear cells could be detected by direct agarose gel visualization of a bcr/abl-specific band following PCR. Bcr/abl message was found in ten out of 16 patients post-BMT. PCR-positive bcr/abl was present only transiently in three patients and correlated with relapse in three. One patient died in clinical remission, while two patients remain in remission despite persistence of bcr/abl-positive abl-positive cells at 180 days. Long-term follow-up of bcr/abl-positive patients in clinical remission may provide insight into the fate or residual Ph+ cells after BMT. This approach may aid in the identification of high-risk patients likely to relapse post-BMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Antin
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Bingham
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ginsburg
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000473:pathology; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D019914:Taq Polymerase; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D019914:Taq Polymerase; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase