title: Distribution of common genetic subgroups in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in four developing countries.
abstract: An international project was conducted to identify the common acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)-specific fusion genes (ETV6-RUNX1,MLL-AF4,TCF3-PBX1, and BCR-ABL1) in developing countries to provide additional prognostic information at diagnosis. A total of 181 children with newly diagnosed ALL were tested by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction at laboratories in India, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Sudan, following a common protocol. To our knowledge, this report is novel in its report from these countries, except India. Across the four countries, the ETV6-RUNX1 (TEL-AML1) fusion gene was present in only 5% of cases. All the positive samples were from children aged 1 to 10 years, in whom the prevalence of this fusion gene, which is associated with good prognosis, was 7.4% (9 out of 121 samples), a much lower rate than reported from Western populations. In the 18 ALL cases tested in Sudan, a notable excess of MLL-AF4 (17%) and BCR-ABL1 (22%) fusion genes was found. This study highlights the need for wider international surveys of the molecular epidemiology of ALL.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Rubina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
authors.forename: Nirmala
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nancy
authors.forename: Win P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Naing
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Lalit
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dar
authors.forename: Baldip K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Rose A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Padua
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D050676:Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit; D005260:Female; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D002052:Myanmar; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein / Q000235:genetics; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / Q000235:genetics; D010154:Pakistan; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics*; D013397:Sudan; D000097764:ETS Translocation Variant 6 Protein
chemical_list: D050676:Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; C113855:MLL-AF4 fusion protein, human; C102421:TEL-AML1 fusion protein; D000097764:ETS Translocation Variant 6 Protein