DETECTION OF BCR-ABL PROTEIN IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA PATIENTS USING IMMUNOCYTOCHEMISTRY

Abstract

Background: Chronic Myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferetive disorder associated with chromosomal abnormality, Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), in more than 95% of CML patients. The resulting BCR-ABL fused gene is markers for this type of leukemia. In CML, the product of the fused BCR-ABL gene is typically an oncoprotein termed P210BCR-ABL, a constitutively active tyrosine kinase, activates numerous signal transduction pathways, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation and reduces apoptosis.
Objective: Primary diagnosis of CML patients by screening the presence of BCR-ABL protein in patients' venous blood lymphocytes using immunocytochemistry technique (ICC).
Method: A total of 42 CML patients, 10 Acute Lymphoid Leukemia(ALL) patients, 2 Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients, 1 Chronic MyeloMonocytic Leukemia ( CMML) patient and 8 healthy individuals were screened. Lymphocyte was separated from heparinized venous blood sample from each subject, smeared and fixed on positive charged slides. Monoclonal antibody specific for BCR-ABL protein was used as primary antibody.
Results: The results showed that all the 42 cases of CML were positive for BCR-ABL protein and all the other cases were negative.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the Immunocytochemistry assay has clinical application as a primary qualitative diagnosis tool of BCR-ABL protein.
Key words: BCR/ABL protein, CML- Immunocytochemistry.