Prevalence of ETV6/RUNX1 Fusion Gene in Pediatric Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Iran.

Objective:ETV6/RUNX 1(also known as TEL/AML1) is the most frequent gene fusion in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Sixty -three patients were enrolled inthis study to explore the distribution of this gene in Iranian population. Methods:Thisstudyused 63 peripheral blood and bone marrow (PB/BM) samples from children with ALL. Immunophenotyping of PB and BM samples were performed using flowcytometryto illustrate the lineage. Moreover, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT -PCR) technique was used to amplify transcripts of leukemia -specific chromosome fusion gene ETV6/RUNX1and to monitor the expression levels of the ETV6/RUNX1in patients according to Van Dongen et al protocol. Findings:On the basis ofFrench-American-British (FAB)classification, 47 individualshad ALL-L1. The incidence of ETV6/RUNX1fusion gene in this study was 34.9%. The laboratory and clinical features of twenty two ETV6/RUNX 1 positive ALL cases were similar to those of other studies. The most positive cases of ETV6/RUNX 1fusion gene had the early pre B ALL and pre B ALL immunophenotypes. Conclusion:The ETV6/RUNX 1fusion gene is a common genetic anomaly in Iranian childhood ALL patients and the prevalence of the ETV6/RUNX1 fusion gene is similar to tha t ofALL patients in other countries . However early pre B cells were the most common type in studied patients.