Screening of Bcr-Abl transcripts in Philadelphia negative essential thrombocythemia

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is a chronic myeloproliferative disorder cha racterised by the absence of the Philadelphia (Ph+) chromosome. Recent stud ies have reported controversial results relating to BCR-ABL rearrangements in ET patients. We studied 34 Ph-negative ET patients with the RT-PCR techn ique at diagnosis or during the follow-up. None of them showed any of the B CR-ABL transcript actually described by others in ET; neither the "classica l" P210 nor the P190 or P230 variants. Our results confirm the absence of B CR-ABL abnormalities in Ph-negative ET patients.