title: Monitoring the efficiency of interferon-alpha therapy in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients by competitive polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) induces cytogenetic responses of variable degree in patients with CML. We sought to establish the relationship between BCR-ABL transcript numbers measured by competitive two-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and cytogenetic status in CML patients treated with IFN-alpha. All 398 samples from 163 patients investigated by RT-PCR were positive for BCR-ABL transcripts. In order to standardize results for variability in RNA and cDNA quality, we quantified total ABL transcripts in each sample as internal control. The BCR-ABL/ABL ratios correlated with the cytogenetic results. Quantitative nested PCR allowed the detection of residual BCR-ABL transcripts in all complete cytogenetic responders on IFN-alpha. We conclude that competitive PCR with internal controls is a reliable method for monitoring patients on IFN-alpha and reduces the need for repeated marrow investigations.
authors.affiliation: III. Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum Mannheim, Universität Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hochhaus
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skladny
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hehlmann
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Cross
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000473:pathology; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl / Q000032:analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl