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Clinical Laboratory Correlates in AML

Protean clinical manifestations in children with leukemias containing MLL-AF10 fusion

Abstract

Translocations involving the MLL gene on chromosome 11q23 occur in 5–10% of human leukemias, and involve fusion with more than 30 different partner genes. The MLL-AF10 fusion produced by the t(10;11)(p12;q23) or ins(10;11)(p12;q23q13) occurs in a small percentage of acute leukemias, most commonly acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) of the M5 FAB subtype. We report two cases of AML (M5a and M0) and one case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia containing MLL-AF10 fusion. Each case had varied clinical characteristics, despite expressing similar MLL-AF10 fusion transcripts. Including the three cases described in this report, we identified a total of 38 cases of leukemia with MLL-AF10 fusion. Approximately one-third of these are not M5 AML. Taken together, these findings emphasize that while the sentinel molecular event may be identical in a disease, the clinical presentation and outcome can vary widely.

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Acknowledgements

LG was supported by the Leukemia Research Foundation, Evanston, IL. SPH was supported by a Professional Development Award from The Children's Hospital Research Institute, Denver, CO and is a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Translational Research Awardee. This work was supported by grants from the Monfort Family Foundation to SPH, and Cancer Center Core Grant NIH CA 46934. The authors gratefully acknowledge the expert assistance of Bette Jamieson in the interpretation and evaluation of the clinical specimens from The Children's Hospital.

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Gore, L., Ess, J., Bitter, M. et al. Protean clinical manifestations in children with leukemias containing MLL-AF10 fusion. Leukemia 14, 2070–2075 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2401966

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