Detection of BCR-ABL transcripts in chronic myeloid leukaemia by nested PCR

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful and rapid method for specific ally detecting BCR-ABL rearrangement by amplification of the complementary DNA (cDNA) produced by reverse transcription of BCR-ABL mRNA. We studied 29 patients for detecting the presence of BCR-ABL transcripts before and afte r bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Our sample was composed of two differe nt groups of patients: one group (n = 18) was studied by serial follow-ups before and after BMT; a second group (n = II) was studied several years aft er BMT. Detection of BCR-ABL was carried out with different primer sets at different periods of the clinical outcome of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML ). A comparison of PCR data and clinical-haematological conditions showed c lear differences between patients. In the first group, eight patients showe d a positive correlation between a favourable clinical outcome and molecula r remission. Conversely, in the second group, six patients were BCR-ABL pos itive between 20 and 117 months after BMT, while only two of these patients showed signs of clinical relapse. Among all patients whose isoforms were k nown at some time during the course of CML, the more frequent isoform was b 3a2. These results were compared to previous findings in the literature on diagnosis, outcome and prognosis of CML. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.