The type of BCR/ABL junction does not predict the survival of patients with Ph1-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia.
The prognostic value of the location of the breakpoint on chromosome 22 in patients with Ph1+ chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is still controversial. We analysed both DNA rearrangement and transcript type in a new continuous series of CML patients. By Southern blotting analysis, we found that, out of 72 patients, 43 had a 5' rearrangement and 29 a 3' one, of the 43 5'-rearranged patients, 35 carried an a2b2 transcript and eight an a2b3 one, while, of the 29 patients rearranged in the 3' part of the M-BCR area, 26 had an a2b3 transcript, one had an a2b2 transcript and two carried both types of transcript. Thus, mRNA studies allow to detect an a2b3 transcript in 17.7% of 5' rearranged patients. However, no correlation was observed between type of transcript and survival, as after DNA studies.
Istituto di Ematologia Lorenzo e Ariosto Seràgnoli, Università di Bologna, Italia.
A
A
Zaccaria
G
G
Martinelli
M
M
Buzzi
N
N
Testoni
P
P
Farabegoli
E
E
Zuffa
M D
MD
Zamagni
D
D
Russo
M
M
Baccarani
A
A
Ambrosetti
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22; D005260:Female; D016313:Genes, abl / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015996:Survival Rate; D014178:Translocation, Genetic