Detection of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 internal tandem duplication in acute myeloid leukemia patients and its clinical significance

Abstract

Objective To analyze the mutations of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3/ITD) in bone marrow cells of patients with newly-diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML).Methods The mutations of FLT3/ITD in 96 AML cases were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)and the clinical features of FLT3/ITD positive patients were analyzed.Results FLT3/ITD mutations were identified in 18 patients (18.8 ％),2 cases were M2,11 cases were M3,2 cases were M4,3 cases were Ms.Patients with FLT3/ITD mutations presented higher initial white blood cell count than that of patients without FLT3/ITD mutations [18.0×109/L (3.6×109-137.6×109/L) vs 6.3×109/L (4.5×109-113.0×109/L),t =3.04,P ＜ 0.05].Out of FLT3/ITD positive patients,13/16 (81.3 ％) obtained complete remission and 13 patients remained in first remission in a median follow-up of 10 months(6-15 months).Conclusion The mutations of FLT3/ITD are frequently identified in newly-diagnosed AML patients,patients with FLT3/ITD mutations present high white blood cell count. Key words: Leukemia; FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3; Tandem repeat sequences; Polymerase chain reaction