Abstract #1645: First comprehensive report of strong interplay of genetic and environmental factors as well as high degree of ethnic and geographical variations in biology of Leukemia as manifested by frequencies of common fusion oncogenes of prognostic significance associated with different Leukemic subtypes in Pakistani population

ABSTRACT: Leukemia is a heterogeneous genetic disease involving many fusion oncogenes frequencies of which can vary in different ethnic groups thus having implication in differential diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. We studied fusion-oncogenic frequencies in 471 Pakistani Leukemia patients using RT-PCR and Interphase-FISH and compared it with other populations. Significant differences were found between Pakistani and other populations with respect to frequencies of SIL-TAL1,TEL-AML1(adult ALL),BCR-ABL,E2A-PBX1,TEL-AML1,MLL-AF4(paediatric ALL) and BCR-ABL splice variants(CML) while no significant differences in frequencies of CBFB-MYH11,AML1-ETO(AML) and PML-PAR\#945;(APL)(p=0.01). Our data indicates strong interplay of genetic and environmental factors as well as high degree of ethnic variations in biology of Leukemia. This is the first comprehensive report about role of environmental factors in Leukemia genetics and will open new dimensions to study the role of ethnic variations and other environmental factors on biology and pathogenesis of Leukemia, leading to development of ethnic-specific disease markers and drug targets, ultimately paving the way for development of patient-specific/patient-tailored anti-leukemic therapies.$$table_{A6EE52E2-FDFF-4C5F-9D1A-A7C4FE64ED5A}$$ Table : Frequencies of Leukaemia-associated fusion genes in Pakistani and Western populations with statistical analysis (SD stands for significant difference between frequencies). Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 1645.