Abstract
Cytogenetic, interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and RT-PCR methods were used to study minimal residual disease in peripheral blood stem cells collected for autografting in three chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in sustained complete cytogenetic remission after treatment with interferon α (IFNα). Karyotypic analysis failed to reveal Ph-positive metaphases. FISH detected 9–16% nuclei with a BCR-ABL fusion gene, contrasting with RT-PCR, performed in two cases, which was negative in one case and weakly positive in the other. RT-PCR was also subsequently weakly positive in the third patient. This discrepancy suggests that the BCR-ABL genomic rearrangement persists unexpressed in quiescent cells. These preliminary results, which need to be confirmed in larger series, suggest that monitoring residual disease in CML should be performed both at DNA and RNA levels. Moreover, autografting following IFNα therapy should be considered with caution because of the persistence of the BCR-ABL genomic rearrangement in a sizeable proportion of the cells.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brizard, F., Chomel, J., Veinstein, A. et al. Does BCR-ABL genomic rearrangement persist in CML patients in complete remission after interferon α therapy?. Leukemia 12, 1076–1080 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2401053
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2401053
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Correlation between BCR-ABL expression and tumor burden is restricted to the transition from minor to major cytogenetic response in interferon treated CML patients
Pathology & Oncology Research (2003)
-
Early reduction of BCR-ABL mRNA transcript levels predicts cytogenetic response in chronic phase CML patients treated with imatinib after failure of interferon α
Leukemia (2002)