Simultaneous analysis of telomere length and cell surface antigen in leukemia by multicolor Flow-FISH

This study was purposed to explore the feasibility of simultaneous analysis of telomere length and cell surface antigen by multicolor Flow-FISH to assess minimal residual disease (MRD) in leukemia. The telomere length in 34 leukemia patients versus 20 normal controls was compared by using Flow-FISH, and the relationship between telomere length and therapeutic effect and prognosis was analyzed preliminarily. As for those patients with follow-up samples, the changes of telomere length combined with surface antigen in different courses of disease were observed by multicolor Flow-FISH. The results indicated that the telomere length of de novo patients was significantly shorter than that of controls except the patients in chronic myeloid leukemia-chronic phase (CML-CP). The shorter telomere, the lower complete remission (CR) rates were observed in acute leukemia cases and the shorter duration of CP before onset of blast phase (BP) occurred in CML cases. The acute leukemia patients showed longer telomere and fewer cells expressed the related antigen after CR. The telomere length of cases with continued CR remained at normal level during remission, and there was no increased expression of the specific antigen. However, the telomere of relapsed cases shortened again after relapse with elevated specific antigen expression. In the relapsed cases, the telomere of related antigen positive cells shortened ahead of telomere length change of the whole cells and morphologic change of bone marrow cells. It is concluded that analysis of telomere length by flow-FISH manifests the significance for monitoring disease conditions, estimating prognosis and guiding therapy in all kinds of leukemia. The simultaneous analysis of telomere length and cell surface antigen by multicolor flow-FISH may monitor abnormal clone or clonal evolution to predict recurrence more sensitively and specifically, and may provide a promising and widely applicable method for monitoring MRD in leukemia.