ACUTE MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA - A DISORDER OF GENE-SPLICING

The two common rearrangements t(8;21) and inv(16) are found in approxi mately 20% of all acute myelogenous leukemias. Both aberrations result in the formation of a fusion gene, involving subunits of the core bin ding transcription factor (CBF). In this manuscript we hypothesize tha t the alternative splicing of the fusion genes, leading to truncated C BF subunits, contributes to the pathogenesis of t(8;21) and inv(16) le ukemias.