Molecular monitoring of Tunisian patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

bcr-abl fusion gene is the hallmark of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). RQ-PCR provides an accurate measure of the total leukemia cell mass and the degree to which bcr-abl transcripts are reduced by therapy correlates with progression free survival.

We report molecular assessment of residual disease in CML Tunisian patients.

Between June 2003 and December 2014 we measured bcr-abl mRNA levels in peripheral blood from all Tunisian patients by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR).

A total of 708 patients with a mean age of 42 years were included in this study. Based on European Leukemia Net 2013, 80% of the patients achieved an optimal response 20% were in treatment failure. 38% of the patients achieved RM4 which corresponds to a bcr-abl/abl ratio <0.01%, 13% of the patients achieved RM4.5corresponding to bcr-abl/abl ratio of 0.0032%.

CML patients had a good response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors treatment. RQ-PCR is helpful in detecting any residual disease and determining the depth of the treatment response.