title: BCR-ABL transcripts in bone marrow aspirates of Philadelphia-negative essential thrombocytopenia patients: clinical presentation.
abstract: One of the diagnostic criteria of essential thrombocythemia (ET) is the absence of the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph-neg). On the molecular level, Ph-neg ET patients may carry BCR-ABL transcript. The natural history of BCR-ABL positive Ph-neg ET patients is undetermined. We examined the BCR-ABL status by reverse transcriptase two-step nested polymerase chain reaction in bone marrow aspirates of 25 Ph-neg ET patients. We found 12 BCR-ABL positive and 13 BCR-ABL negative patients in the study group. The comparison showed that the two groups had similar clinical and laboratory characteristics, except for a significant increased patients' age and decreased polymorphonuclear cell count in the BCR-ABL positive group. During a median follow-up of 20 and 22.5 months for the BCR-ABL negative and positive groups, respectively, there was neither blastic transformation nor unrelated death in both groups. We conclude that it is important to look for BCR-ABL transcript in Ph-neg ET patients and to follow them closely to investigate the nature of this translocation in this group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah-Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blickstein
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aviram
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luboshitz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prokocimer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bairey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sulkes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaklai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001752:Blast Crisis; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D003582:Cytogenetics / Q000379:methods; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010677:Philadelphia Chromosome; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D013920:Thrombocythemia, Essential / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl