ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a common malignant disorder of hematopoietic progenitor cells that caused by chromosomal translocation and the formation of fusion oncogenes. This study determined the frequencies of fusion genes in Sudanese patients with AML and their clinical impacts. METHODS: This study was conducted at Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum, Sudan. A total of 97 patients with AML were recruited in the study from different clinics in Khartoum state. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine types of fusion genes. RESULTS: The highest frequency of genetic defects was observed for AML1-ETO fusion gene (57.6%) followed by MLL-AF9 (35.1%) and FUS-ERG (7.2%). No significant differences in blast cells, hemoglobin, total white blood cells, and platelets were found between different gene fusion groups (P > 0.05). In addition, no differences in the frequency of splenomegaly, hepatomegaly and lymphadenopathy were observed between different gene fusion groups (P > 0.05). With respect to French-American-British (FAB) classification, the M2 and M3 were significantly higher in patients with AML1-ETO fusion (86%, P < 0.01) whereas M4 and M5 were higher in patients with MLL-AF9 fusion (76.5%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that AML1-ETO and MLL-AF9 fusion genes were predominant in AML Sudanese patients. None of the examined clinical parameters were different between different fusion genes except for FAB stages.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant disease of the myeloid line that caused by several chromosomal aberrations that include AML1 -ETO and MLL-AF9. In the current study, the correlations of fusion gene quantitative RT-PCR and hematological parameters in patients with AML were examined to determine their prognostic value in clinical practice. METHODOLOGY: This study was conducted at Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum, Sudan. A total of 82 patients with AML (51 AML1-ETO and 31 MLL-AF9) were participated in the study. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine types of fusion genes Results: The expression of MLL-AF9 was significantly higher than that for AML1-ETO (P < 0.01). In addition, with respect to FAB classification M2/M3 types were dominated in patients with AML1-ETO gene fusion, whereas M4/M5 types were dominated in MLL-AF9 subjects (P < 0.01). Finally, neither AML1-ETO nor MLL-AF9 quantitative RT-PCR gene expressions were correlated with the examined hematological parameters including: hemoglobin, total white blood count, platelets and blast cells (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significant variations in AML1-ETO and MLL-AF9 expression were observed in AML. No correlations between the expression of fusion genes and hematological parameters were detected.
