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Validation of NG2 antigen in identifying BP-ALL patients with MLL rearrangements using qualitative and quantitative flow cytometry: a prospective study

Leukemia volume 22, pages 858–861 (2008)Cite this article

Timely diagnosis of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) rearrangements in pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BP-ALL) is highly relevant in patient stratification. The presence of t(4;11)-MLL rearrangement is the most important criteria for high-risk stratification in protocols for childhood precursor BP-ALL. Current tests to identify t(4;11)-MLL involve karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization and reverse transcription-PCR. The tests, however, are expensive both in terms of personnel and reagents. They do not provide a fast diagnosis and may fail due to technical reasons or high variability in the breakpoint that does not allow for standard reverse transcription-PCR detection. Therefore, a fast and reliable test that identifies MLL rearranged BP-ALL is highly welcome, particularly in low-income countries.

Advances in identification of leukemia subtypes have been recently achieved using gene expression and flow cytometry (FC) techniques. These approaches were shown to be particularly relevant in the characterization of patients with MLL rearrangements, a recurrent disease that accounts for 5% of all leukemic subtypes and more than 50% in infants. Armstrong et al.1 were able to separate patients with MLL translocations from other leukemic subtypes using microarray experiments, showing distinct gene expression profiles that characterize MLL rearranged specimens. Despite remarkable results in oncology research, microarray technology is currently an expensive test not yet introduced in clinical use for leukemia diagnosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics,

    A Zangrando, F Intini, G te Kronnie & G Basso

  2. Hemato-Oncology Laboratory,

    A Zangrando, F Intini, G te Kronnie & G Basso

  3. University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    A Zangrando, F Intini, G te Kronnie & G Basso

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  1. A Zangrando
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  2. F Intini
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  3. G te Kronnie
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  4. G Basso
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Correspondence to G te Kronnie.

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Zangrando, A., Intini, F., te Kronnie, G. et al. Validation of NG2 antigen in identifying BP-ALL patients with MLL rearrangements using qualitative and quantitative flow cytometry: a prospective study. Leukemia 22, 858–861 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404952

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