Characterization of Common Chromosomal Translocations and Their Frequencies in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients of Northwest Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Hematology and Oncology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Objective
Detection of chromosomal translocations has an important role in diagnosis and treatment of hematological disorders. We aimed to evaluate the 46 new cases of de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients for common translocations and to assess the effect of geographic and ethnic differences on their frequencies.
Materials and Methods
In this descriptive study, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used on 46 fresh bone marrow or peripheral blood samples to detect translocations t (8; 21), t (15; 17), t (9; 11) and inv (16). Patients were classified using the French-American-British (FAB) criteria in to eight sub-groups (M0-M7). Immunophenotyping and biochemical test results of patients were compared with RT-PCR results.
Results
Our patients were relatively young with a mean age of 44 years. AML was relatively predominant in female patients (54.3%) and most of patients belonged to AML-M2. Translocation t (8; 21) had the highest frequency (13%) and t (15; 17) with 2.7% incidence was the second most frequent. CD19 as an immunophenotypic marker was at a relatively high frequency (50%) in cases with t (8; 21), and patients with this translocation had a specific immunophenotypic pattern of complete expression of CD45, CD38, CD34, CD33 and HLA-DR.
Conclusion
Similarities and differences of results in Iran with different parts of the world can be explained with ethnic and geographic factors in characterizations of AML. Recognition of these factors especially in other comprehensive studies may aid better diagnosis and management of this disease.

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