ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to construct the standard product for detecting the aml1/eto fusion gene by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RQ-RT-PCR), monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD) in the patents with AML-M(2). Having obtained the aml1/eto fusion gene from the patients by the RT-PCR with a pair of specific primers, the RNA standard product as 10(10) copies was gained after amplifying and transcribing in vitro and was used for detecting bone marrow and peripheral blood samples from 37 patients. The results indicated that the standard product constructed above displayed a standard curve which showed a linear correlation of the Ct with the log of the RNA concentration of each standard dilution. The average relative levels of aml1/eto fusion gene in the patients at diagnosis and the patients in relapse were higher than those in patients ongoing complete remission (CR) (p < 0.05). The relative level of aml1/eto fusion gene of the follow-up patients was higher at diagnosis, and lower in patients ongoing CR, then went up again at relapse. The patients whose relative level of aml1/eto fusion gene in CR decreased by 2 log even lower than at diagnosis had a lower risk of relapse. If the relative level of aml1/eto fusion gene kept increasing, the patients had a poor prognosis. It is concluded that RQ-RT-PCR is a sensitive, specific, reliable and reproducible method for monitoring aml1/eto fusion gene. Application of RQ-RT-PCR to detect aml1/eto fusion gene for monitoring MRD in AML-M(2) is helpful to assess the response of therapy and estimate the risk of relapse, RQ-RT-PCR may become an important method to decide the time for intensified therapy and prolong CR for patients.