title: Rt-PCR method for diagnosis and follow-up of hematological malignancies: first approach in Bangladesh.
abstract: Nested reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) was performed on 58 leukemia patients at BIRDEM Laboratory, as a pioneering work in Bangladesh. Thirty of themwere examined for the presence of BCR-ABL being clinically and morphologically diagnosed as chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and 28 for PML-RARalpha fusion transcripts being clinically and morphologically diagnosed as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL/ AML M3). The cases were selected for targeted therapy with imatinib mesylate and all-Trans retinoic acid (ATRA) to treat CML and APL respectively. Samples were received either before commencement or during therapy. In the positive cases, amplified DNA products were visible after gel electrophoresis and were reported accordingly. In case of BCR-ABL, positive results were found for five out of six (83.33%) untreated cases and 11 out of 24 (45.83%) treated cases. Positive results for PML-RARalpha were found for 12 out of 14 (85.70%) untreated cases and 11 out of 16 (68.75%) treated cases. A strong positive correlation was found between duration of treatment and negativity of PCR results in both the cases. In present times, the detection of minimal residual disease in patients undergoing treatment for hematological malignancies has become an important goal, not only to monitor the effectiveness of therapy but also to detect an impending relapse. This is the first time in Bangladesh that rt-PCR method is being employed to detect or monitor the presence of abnormal fusion genes in hematological malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Department, Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM), Shahbag, Dhaka. tanvira_sultana@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Tanvira Afroze
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Sultana
authors.forename: Md
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdul Mottalib
authors.forename: Sirazul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Mohiuddin Ahmed
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Subhagata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choudhury
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001459:Bangladesh; D001549:Benzamides; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001549:Benzamides; D010879:Piperazines; D011743:Pyrimidines; D014212:Tretinoin; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate