Detection of bcr-abl fusion mRNA in chronic myelogenous leukemia by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction...

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is identified by an unique t (9;22) translocation which fuses the abl gene to the breakpoint cluster region (bcr) gene. We attempted to devise a system based on the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique using nested primer, for detection of CML-specific chimeric mRNA that would provide a practical approach for molecular diagnosis of CML. In the present study, all Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1)-positive CML samples produced positive results, while the Ph1-negative acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) sample and samples from normal volunteers produced negative results, indicating that this method had high specificity. We constructed a sensitive and specific system for detection of CML-specific mRNA even in minute amounts of leukemic cells that expressed bcr-abl fusion mRNA in CML patient blood. This system should be useful for clinical diagnosis of CML.